Hunger strikes to protest the isolation of Mr. Abdullah Öcalan has spread
HDP Deputy for Hakkari Ms. Leyla Güven, who was arrested on 31 January 2018 and has
since been held under pre-trial detention in Diyarbakir E-type High Security Prison, has been
on hunger strike since November 7 to protest the politics of isolation imposed on Mr.
Abdullah Öcalan at the Imrali Island Prison.
Ms. Güven has started her hunger strike specifically saying, “It
is known by everybody that
the actor in the solution of current
social problems of Turkey is Mr. Öcalan. Mr Öcalan has
not been able to communicate with his family or lawyers since 2015. I want to emphasize that
Mr. Öcalan, who has been held under severe isolation conditions, has a mission to ensure
peace for the society of Turkey. In addition, the conditions under which he can fulfill his
mission and role must be provided within the framework of national and international law.
For these reasons, I declare that I have started on my own free will an indefinite hunger strike
until a meeting with Mr. Öcalan is arranged.”
This hunger strike has spread to several other prisons of Turkey for the same demand. On 29
November, several prisoners in Malatya E Type Prison have started an indefinite hunger
strike with ten-day alternate shifts. On 1 December, 15 women prisoners in
Kandıra F Type
Prison, including the Co-chair of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Ms. Sebahat Tuncel,
have joined the indefinite hunger strike with ten-day alternate shifts. It seems that these
hunger strikes to protest the isolation of Mr. Öcalan will
further spread in prisons.
The hunger strikes to support Ms. Güven and protest the isolation of Mr. Öcalan are spreading
outside the prisons as well. Up to now, two-day solidarity hunger strikes were carried out in
Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Van, Adana and Urfa
provinces on November 17-18.In early December
many other provinces joined for a three-day hunger strike. However, on December 2, the
police raided HDP’s Mersin office, where HDP members and deputies wanted to start a
hunger strike, and unlawfully detained 10 people.
Following the police raid and subsequent detention of HDP members, HDP deputies decided
to go on a hunger strike for 3 days. Co-chair Ms. Pervin Buldan and 9 other deputies have
started a two-day hunger strike at the parliament on December
4 to support Leyla Güven and
protest the detentions. There are currently three-day solidarity hunger strikes by HDP deputies
in provinces where the HDP has more than 2 MPs, such as Diyarbakir, Urfa, Batman, Van,
and Istanbul.
HDP Foreign Affairs Commission
4 December 2018
________________________________________________________________________________
Contact:
Web:
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Address:
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Ankara - Turkey
Phone:
+90 312 427 17 80
Fax:
+90 312 4288957