Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Kocaeli MP and Parliamentary Human Rights Monitoring Commission Member, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu said that the Turkish state should urgently respond to the Kurdish political prisoner’s ongoing hunger strike against isolation saying, “There is a state mechanism that collectively tries to cover up all human rights violations.” reported ANF News
HDP Deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, said that the Kurdish prisoners were in historic resistance.
Gergerlioğlu said, “Nobody goes on a hunger strike out of their own will; They are doing it to solve the Kurdish issue, to end the isolation in İmralı and to provide an opportunity for peaceful dialouge.”
Gergerlioğlu stated that he is very worried that the hunger strikes that are ongoing in already very bad health conditions will only get worse during the Covid 19 pandemic.
HDP Deputy Gergerlioğlu, a chest diseases specialist for 30 years said: “As the Human Rights Inquiry Commission, we visit prisons. We go and visit both political and criminal wards. We see prisoner’s faces turning yellow and see that they are in unhealthy, damp and unsanitary conditions. When we visited Sincan Prison, there was no water in the wards for Kurdish women. They is already overcrowding and if someone is sick, everyone will get sick. In such an unhealthy environment, there is coronavirus, isolation in isolation, overcrowded environments, and the hunger strikes continue in this environment. We are watching the hunger strike with extreme uneasiness. A solution must be reached on the hunger strikes, the isolation in Imrali must be ended and the Kurdish issue must be resolved.” he said
Underlining that the Kurdish question remains unresolved, Gergerlioğlu continued: “The state must take a step. Nobody wants to go on hunger strike. Hunger and thirst are not easy for any of us. There is a huge issue at stake. People are dying, cities are collapsing, and at the same time that the country’s economy is in ruins, terrible sums of money are spent on weapons and thousands of people fill the prisons. Every person is very precious, nobody should lose their life. This is a really important action. Nobody enjoys it; They are doing it for the solution of the Kurdish issue, to end the isolation in Imrali and to provide conditions for peaceful dialouge. Kurdish prisoners are currently in a great resistance for such a simple and obvious demand. We are watching this situation with great uneasiness,” he said.
Stating that he follows the situation in the prisons very closely, Gergerlioğlu said: “I am the deputy who has submitted the most petitions to the Ministry of Justice and the Human Rights Commission. The Ministry of Justice receives a lot news from us. Relatives of prisoners, prison administrations report their problems and troubles to us instead of the Ministry of Justice.”
People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Kocaeli MP and Parliamentary Human Rights Monitoring Commission Member, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu concluded: “There is a very oppressive and unhealthy state system in Turkey’s prisons. We are faced with a state mechanism that collectively tries to cover up all violations. I submitted nearly 2,000 parliamentary questions to the Ministry of Justice, they did not answer. I submitted nearly 90 parliamentary questions to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was so reckless that it did not even answer one.”
“We are trying hard to bring these issues on to the agenda. We try to create a pressure via the media, NGOs and reports that we have created. While there is isolation, hunger strikes and deaths in isolation, we are conscientiously troubled on this issue. That is why we promise that we will address this issue further. I hope we will be able to take much more positive steps in 2021. This is a very malicious government, but we also have very good intentions and efforts. We will take firm steps to end the hunger strikes and to end the isolation in İmralı.”
