Describing the isolation of imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan as a system of torture, Human Rights Association (İHD) Van (Wan) branch chair Murat Melet called for the demands of hunger strikers to be met and for the isolation to be lifted.
The indefinite, rotating hunger strike launched by political prisoners on 27 November last year to protest Öcalan’s isolation is on its 142nd day.
The hunger strike launched in the Makhmour camp in Iraqi Kurdistan is now on its 121st day.
Isolation should be removed
Commenting on the ongoing protests, Murat Melet called on everyone to support the removal of the isolation, adding, “We know that staging a hunger strike means that prisoners are at the end of their rope. Everyone must end their silence immediately. The rightful and legitimate demands of those on hunger strike must be noticed and the isolation of Mr Öcalan should be removed immediately.”
Melet concluded by saying that “The isolation should be removed to ensure the internal peace of Turkey.”