Leila Khaled, a leader of the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine, took part in the Third Congress of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) that was held in Ankara, Turkey, on February 11.
“I have brought you greetings from the Palestinian people,” Khaled told the congress. “The General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is in an Israeli dungeon. I greet all our prisoners, our comrades and [jailed HDP co-chair] Selahattin Demirtas and his comrades.
“Prisons have no identity. They are all the same and are there to obstruct democracy and freedom ... In solidarity with you, we will destroy all the dungeons in the world and build cultural centres and schools in their place.
“Today in Ankara I saw two different scenes. On the one hand all the policemen who surrounded the congress hall and filled the streets. The same picture we see in Palestine.
“But on the other hand I have seen here the peoples of Turkey and Kurdistan. The voices that rise in this room will drown out the shackles of all prisons and become the echo of the voices of all peoples.
“Wherever there is colonialism, oppression and violence, resistance will gain strength. You are resisting. You are the voice of those who resist colonialism ... We also raise our voice against the war in Afrin.”
[Abridged from ANF News.]