Kurdish asylum seeker Yasser Dirki has become a regular sight in a busy town shopping centre with his one-man protest.

Mr Dirki has stood daily in Hastings' pedestrian precinct for two months, drawing attention to the plight of the Kurdish people and calling for the release of imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is on death row in Turkey.

Mr Dirki amassed about 600 signatures on a petition presented to Hastings MP Michael Foster.

Mr Dirki, 30, was joined by more than 50 supporters who marched to the MP's office, waving flags and banners.

Mr Dirki said: "This march is not only for Ocalan's freedom. Ocalan is a symbol of a repressed people struggling for a homeland.

"The march is in solidarity with all political prisoners and all peoples wanting to live in a land of their own."

Mr Foster said: "Clearly the Kurdish people do have a case.

"They are impoverished. They have their own religion and language, which is illegal to speak in that part of Turkey. I will raise the issue with the Foreign Office."