JINHA

ŞIRNEX – Thousands of women held a March 8 rally calling for freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed PKK leader whose philosophy emphasizes women's liberation, in the town of İdil.

The town of İdil (Kurdish name Hezex) in the province of Şırnak, whose urban population is around 25,000,saw thousands of women assemble to send messages of greeting to the PKK leader and call for his freedom. The rally was hung with colorful banners and photographs of women who fell in the struggle for freedom, including GülnazKarataş (nom de guerre Berîtan) and the three Kurdish woman militant activists slain in Paris, SakineCansız, FidanDoğan and LaylaŞaylemez.

The rally began with a minute of silence for women who lost their lives in the struggle for freedom. Local women co-chairs from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) took to the stage to call for freedom for Abdullah Öcalan. They said Kurdish women would respond to the dominant system in the upcoming June elections.

The rally was rounded out with a concert from a number of local musical groups.

(ekip/zd/mg/cm)