Kurds march through Sydney to demand 'free Abdullah Ocalan'

November 21, 2018
Issue 

Members of Sydney's Kurdish community marched through the city on November 18 to demand freedom for Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been held in solitary confinement in a Turkish prison since 1999.

Protesters carried banners, flags and placards demanding the liberation of Ocalan, the central leader of the Kurdish struggle for a "democratic Middle East of equal peoples".

For many, Ocalan symbolises the demand for a peaceful solution to the escalating campaign of repression by Turkish president Tayyep Recip Erdogan against the Kurdish people.

A worldwide petition campaign for his freedom has so for gathered 10.3 million signatures.

Marchers chanted "Freedom for Ocalan! Status for Kurdistan!" as they distributed leaflet to passersby which said: "We demand: End the Turkish invasion and massacres in North Syria! Respect the Kurdish demands for autonomy! Freedom for Ocalan and all political prisoners in Turkey!"

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