|
The Long March for Kurdish Rights and
Freedom for Ocalan arrived in Strasbourg, France
17.2.2012 |
|
|
|
February 17, 2012
STRASBOURG, France,— The Long March “Freedom
for Ocalan, Political Status for Kurdish People”,
Kurds have walked 420 Km in Siberian temperatures to
reclaim their status.
Cold and Siberian temperatures have not stopped
hundreds of Kurds to march for their freedom,
freedom for their leader Abdullah Öcalan and the
recognition of a Kurdish status. Organized by KON-KURD
(Confederation of Kurdish Association in Europe) the
march left Geneva on 31 January to reach Strasbourg
on Thursday, after 420 kilometers.
Before reaching the city centre, the march stopped
in front of the European Parliament for a press
meeting. Members of the Kurdish community wave
flags and banners displaying a portrait of Kurdistan
Worker's Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan during a
demonstration asking for Ocalan's liberation on
February 16, 2012 in front of the European
Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France.
The meeting was attended by Left Group deputuies
Jurgen Klute, Marie Christine Vergiat, BDP deputy
Emine Ayna and president of KON-KURD İsmet Kem.
Ocalan is the founder of the outlawed Turkey Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
which took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey
(Northern Kurdistan). Ocalan had been forced from his long-time home in Syria by
Turkish pressure in 1998,www.ekurd.net
embarked on an odyssey through several European
countries and ended up in the residence of the Greek ambassador in Nairobi. He
was on his way from there to the airport on February 15, 1999 when he was arrested by
Turkish agents and put on a plane to Turkey.
Following the arrest, violent protests by Kurds erupted all over Europe. Ocalan
was put on trial on the heavily guarded prison island of Imrali in the Sea of
Marmara near Istanbul and sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to
life in prison, after Turkey abolished the death penalty in
2002. Ocalan was the only prisoner for a decade until new prisoners arrived on
November 2009, after the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of
Torture (CPT) criticised Ankara for violating
Ocalan's human rights by keeping him in solitary
confinement. He is allowed only visits from
close relatives and his lawyers.
Ocalan has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey.
Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the
Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional
existence of Kurds,www.ekurd.net
to establish a Kurdish state in
the south east of the country, sparking a conflict
that has claimed some 45,000 lives.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous
Kurdish region and more cultural rights for ethnic
Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in
Turkey, numbering more than 20 million. A large
Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with
the Kurdish PKK rebels.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees,
lifting the ban on education in Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish
system within Turkey, reducing pressure on the
detained PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, stopping
military action against the Kurdish party and
recomposing the Turkish constitution.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
The PKK is considered as 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
Compiled by ekurd.net
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency,
firatnews.com | AFP | ekurd.net | Agencies
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
