Thousands of Kurdish demonstrators gathered across Turkey to call for the release of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), along with other Kurdish detainees. Öcalan has been held since 1999 following his conviction for leading a decades-long armed insurgency against the Turkish state. The demonstrations come after the PKK and Öcalan formally renounced armed struggle last year, raising expectations among supporters that a political resolution could open the door to his release.