The first phase of the three-day march under the slogan “Defend Kurdistan against Occupation and Genocide” through Switzerland concluded with a concert in Morges on Friday evening. The “Defense of Kurdistan” protest march kicked off in the morning with a press conference in front of the Ouchy Castle in Lausanne. The Treaty of Lausanne was concluded here on July 24, 1923. After that, more than 250 people, including representatives of organizations and social institutions from Kurdistan, Turkey, Switzerland and Europe, as well as intellectuals, artists and members of revolutionary movements, marched. On the first day, a distance of about 25 kilometers was traveled. Today the march continues to Nyon.
Treaty of Lausanne
The protest march from Lausanne to Geneva is a protest against the new version of the Treaty of Lausanne. The agreement of July 24, 1923 determined not only the borders of the current state of Turkey, but also the division of Kurdistan. The states party to the treaty were Turkey, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. With the stroke of a pen, the Kurds were declared Turks, Iranians, Iraqis, and Syrians. It soon became clear that even the civil rights granted to them were only on paper. In fact, the governments of the four countries pursued policies of resettlement, expulsion, violent repression, Turkification, and Arabization against the Kurdish minority. Almost a century later, this situation persists, especially in Turkey and Iran.
