ANKARA - Young people from the Federal Kurdistan Region and the DEM Party Youth Assembly have submitted an application to the Ministry of Justice requesting a meeting with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

 

The young people from the Federal Kurdistan Region, together with the Youth Assembly of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, submitted a visit request to the Ministry of Justice to meet with Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan. Following the application, the young people made a statement in front of the Ministry of Justice. 

 

Rezan Kağanarslan, spokesperson for the DEM Party Youth Assembly, said that the DEM Party Youth Assembly had been gathering a delegation from Başûr (Southern) Kurdistan for three months as part of its National Unity efforts, but that some individuals were unable to come to Turkey because the state did not grant permission. Kaganarslan said that the delegation included members from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party, and the Patriotic Unity of Kurdistan (PUK), and that the delegation had organised a panel in Mardin two days earlier and met with Ömer Öcalan.

 

'WE DEMAND THE RELEASE OF MR ÖCALAN'

 

Speaking next, Shko Şivan, representative of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, stated that they had come to Ankara as representatives of civil society organisations based in South Kurdistan, and that their aim was to convey the message of peace from the youth of South Kurdistan to the Turkish state. 

 

"The Kurdish people have always been in favour of peace, always in favour of democratic unity, and believe that the nations within a state should live in peace. On this occasion, we demand the release of Mr Öcalan and a meeting with him so that the peace process can reach a higher level and stability can be established in the Turkish state," he said.

 

 

Salar Abdurrahman, Youth Secretary of the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party, also said that during their meetings they wanted to obtain information about politics in North Kurdistan (Turkey) and spread the message of peace throughout the world. 

 

Salar Abdurrahman stated that their goal was for all the peoples of the world to live together in peace, adding that the Kurdish people wanted freedom, not war and conflict. 

 

Salar Abdurrahman concluded: “Undoubtedly, the Kurdish people have made many sacrifices and suffered many losses in the past in their quest for freedom. We now want to achieve the role we have assumed in the past, using a different method, a different mechanism, a different approach, to reach the independent and free state we have been working towards for years.”

 

Following the statement, the delegation submitted the application text they had prepared to the Ministry of Justice.