The Democratic Institutions Platform has announced a big rally in Diyarbakır (Amed) on 13 October 2024 as part of the ongoing “Free Abdullah Öcalan: A Political Solution to the Kurdish Question’ campaign. This campaign, which was launched in Strasbourg in October 2023, aims to end Öcalan’s decades-long imprisonment and promote his ideas for peace and democracy in the Middle East. The rally will conclude a series of events and actions under the slogan ‘Resisting the Conspiracy, Meeting in Amed for Freedom’.
At a press conference held at the Southeast Journalists Association in Diyarbakır, representatives of the Democratic Institutions Platform said the rally marks a new phase in their campaign. As the 26th anniversary of the international operation that led to Öcalan’s capture on 9 October 1999 approaches, the organisation highlighted the political significance of the moment. They also drew links to the military coup in Turkey on 12 September 1980, which they said laid the foundations for today’s oppressive political conditions.
The platform’s statement, read by Elif Turan of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and Ferhat Ertaş of Ma Music, highlighted the ongoing challenges facing the Kurdish community. “The political struggle for the democratic solution of the Kurdish question, along with other democratic rights, is being obstructed,” they said. “The AKP-MHP fascism, which is the legacy of [the] September 12 [1980 military coup], is expanding its dominance and launching widespread attacks on the breathing space of society. Military operations across the borders are deepening the deadlock in the Kurdish question and the demands for democracy are being suppressed through state violence and the suffocation of civil spaces”.
The Democratic Institutions Platform framed the events leading up to the 13 October rally as part of a larger movement to challenge Turkey’s political system, in particular the continued denial of Kurdish identity and rights. “The solution to the multiple crises in Turkey lies in breaking the political deadlock on the Kurdish question. Without this, it is impossible to achieve democracy and peace,” the statement added.
The rally in Diyarbakır aims to unite the Kurdish community and its supporters to demand an end to Öcalan’s isolation and push for a political solution. “We invite all democratic and revolutionary forces to stand with us in Amed on 13 October to resist the conspiracy and break the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan,” the platform concluded.
