KURDS have renewed calls for the liberation of jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan as Newroz — Kurdish new year — celebrations are being planned in major towns and cities across the world.

The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) — an umbrella organisation which includes the PKK — said today that demands for his freedom would become “very strong” this year.

It paid tribute to the guerilla fighters waging a fierce resistance against Turkish armed forces in Iraqi Kurdistan and “our comrades in the dungeons” as it celebrated Kurdish identity.