Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather today in cities all over Kurdistan to watch the historic statement by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party delegation, which will share a long-awaited call by imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. The statement will be held at 5 pm (3pm CET) at the Elite World Hotel in Istanbul after the DEM Party delegation has returned from their visit with Öcalan today.
It is expected that Öcalan will make a “historic call” for the resolution of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict and the democratisation of Turkey, which would mark the beginning of a “new era” in this process and a historic opportunity to find a political solution to the Kurdish question. This process, if successful, can have a positive impact on other conflicts in the Middle East as well.
Giant led screens are being set up in the Kurdish-majority cities Diyarbakir (Amed) and Van (Wan) in southeast Turkey and in Sulaymaniyah (Silêmanî) and in the Makhmour (Mexmur) camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Public screenings of the call are also expected in at least seven cities in North and East Syria, such as Qamishli (Qamişlo), Al-Hasakah (Hesekê), Derik (Dêrik), Al-Tabqa (Tebqa), Raqqa (Reqa), Kobani (Kobanê) and Aleppo.
