April 4, the birthday of Abdullah Öcalan, is celebrated in northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, Turkey and several cities in Europe as a symbol of the Kurdish struggle, as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader serves life in Turkey’s İmralı Prison, held in a status of absolute incommunicado since 2021.
While the events continue throughout Tuesday in Kurdish-controlled north and east Syria, on Monday the “4 April Garden” was opened to the public in Qamishli with a sapling planting by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported.
Meanwhile, in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate the Culture and Art Committee of Manbij organised a Free Children’s Festival, and in Al-Hasakah a seminar on Öcalan’s life took place.
There were also sapling planting events in several Ayn Issa districts, the capital of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
The planting of saplings symbolises the Kurdish struggle, in the context of a new life and the revival of nature, and has become an important feature of annual 4 April celebrations.
Several planting events were also held as part of celebrations in Turkey’s Istanbul, the eastern province of Ağrı (Agirî) and other Kurdish-majority cities.
In the Kurdish-majority province of Diyarbakır (Amed) in southeastern Turkey, a torch-lit celebration was held on Monday night and a call was made to raise efforts against the policy of isolation in İmralı.
European cities have also held events for Öcalan’s birthday. In Gothenburg, Switzerland, on Monday, Co-chair of northwest Iran (Rojhilat)-based Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) Siyamend Muini stated that the 4 April marks “a historic crossroads for politics, society and philosophy.”
In France, a march was organised on Monday in the Drancy suburb of Paris. In a statement released after the march, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the Council of Europe were called on to fulfil their responsibilities and end isolation in İmralı. Meanwhile, 4 April events organised by the Kurdish Women’s Union (YJK-S) and Rojbin Women’s Assembly continue in various cities across Switzerland.
