6000 Kurds Commemorate the Treaty of Lausanne
Published: Saturday, Jul 22nd 2023, 16:40
تم التحديث في: الجمعة، 13 أكتوبر 2023، الساعة 14:12:14
العودة إلى البث المباشر
Approximately 6000 Kurds and their supporters demonstrated in Lausanne on Saturday afternoon to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, which buried their dream of an autonomous state. The participants gathered in Lausanne-Ouchy and then marched to the Rumine Palace, where the Treaty of Lausanne was signed on July 24, 1923. The demonstrators waved numerous flags distributed by the organizers, displaying the emblems of Kurdish organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or the portrait of its founder Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned in Turkey since 1999. Placards read "The Treaty of Lausanne is a decision for genocide against the Kurdish people". Participants came from many European countries. The organizers had said they expected between 10,000 and 15,000 participants, but both the news agency Keystone-SDA and the police estimated the number of participants at 6000. The event was expected to end in the evening. The police accompanied the demonstration with a large deployment. The Rumine Palace was cordoned off and police officers were posted at key points, such as in front of a kebab restaurant. No incidents were reported until later in the afternoon. The organizers had called for a peaceful march. "We are here to show that the Kurdish people still exist, that they are resisting and that they will continue to resist," said an organizer of the event to the news agency Keystone-SDA. "The Treaty of Lausanne is a treaty of shame," she said, as the divided Kurdish people had no official status due to this treaty. "We are here in Lausanne to denounce a century of denial, massacres and injustice."
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish