JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Tens of thousands of people took to the streets and squares of Northern Kurdistan and Turkey on Sunday, February 15, the 16^th anniversary of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's abduction in an international plot. Police interventions kicked off drawn-out clashes in a number of cities and towns.

Citizens marked February 15 with speeches, sit-ins and marches across the region. From the commune in Miseynter village across the border from Kobanê to Turkey's capital in Ankara, chants in support of Öcalan, flags of the PKK, and posters of the imprisoned leader and fallen PKK commanders all demonstrated the popular fury at1999's international plot to abduct and imprison Öcalan. Many cities and towns were completely shut down. Representatives from the People's Democratic Party (HDP), Democratic Regions Party (DBP), civil society organizations and Peace Mothers spoke in cities and towns fromDoğubayazit in the east to İzmir in the west.

Police completely blockaded the city of Batman, where shopkeepers shut down shops throughout multiple districts, including the historical ÇarşiyaKevn. Izmir saw a rally of thousands in spite of the city's governor's declaration of the gathering a "threat to public security."The towns of Kızıltepe, Doğubayazit, Kurtalan, Hezex (Turkish: İdil)also saw serious police interventions and clashes continuing for hours throughout the neighborhoods, with the town of Yüksekova swathed in a massive cloud of tear gas throughout the night. Tens of thousands marched in Cizre, with police intervening repeatedly and youth setting up barricades to stop them.