ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Turkey's pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) announced Friday that a march will be held on Saturday in Diyarbakir (Amed), calling for the release of the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“A march will be held in Amed by youth organizations, including our Youth Council, in demand of the honorable Abdullah Ocalan's freedom. On Saturday, October 18, at 17:00, we expect all our people, especially the youth, to participate in the march from Alipinar Bridge to Ben u Sen Tower,” wrote the party in a statement.

“The freedom of Ocalan, the main actor of the Peace and Democratic Society Process, to work and live freely must be ensured,” the statement added.

In February, Ocalan called on the PKK to dissolve and shift their struggle against the Turkish state from an armed approach to a political one, urging democratic means to secure rights for the Kurdish population in Turkey, the PKK leader’s move, coming after a peace proposal by senior Turkish politician Devlet Bahceli, is part of an initiative to peacefully address the Kurdish question in Turkey.

Heeding Ocalan’s call, the PKK in May announced its decision to dissolve and disband, marking an end to their armed struggle against the Turkish state that spanned four decades and claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Ocalan’s lawyers said earlier on Friday that the jailed leader had urged Turkey to integrate Kurdish rights into Turkish state law, reiterating support for the people’s rights to freely express their identity.

The DEM Party and its officials have called for the release of Ocalan time and again since the commencement of the peace process, arguing that his release will act as a gesture of good faith and would help speed along the peace process.

Head of the DEM Party bloc in the Turkish Parliament Sezai Temelli said in late September that Turkey must recognize the “critical role” of Ocalan in the peace negotiations, and secure his “interlocutership as soon as possible to accelerate the [peace] process.”

Despite the PKK’s announcement to disband and lay down arms, both sides have proceeded cautiously, with a fully agreed-upon framework having yet to be reached between the two foes to implement the process.