Peace Mothers in Turkey spoke to JinNews regarding the ongoing hunger strike that was launched by political prisoners on 27 November 2020 to protest against the prison isolation conditions of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan and the human rights violations that are occurring in prisons across the country.
As the massive hunger strike action – which has spread to over 150 prisons in Turkey – continues into its 76th day, Peace Mothers have been closely following developments and have been extending support and public awareness about the demands of the prisoners.
Members of the Hakkari (Colemerg) Peace Mothers Council shared their concerns about the deteriorating health of hunger striking prisoners and extended support for the prisoners’ demand that the prison isolation conditions of Abdullah Öcalan must be ended.
”Isolation is not only imposed on prisoners, but also on all Kurdish communities. All our people and mothers should stand up and break the isolation”, said Nihari Danış, a Peace Mother. She added: “We want the demands of the prisoners to be accepted – i.e., the isolation must be lifted. If the hunger strike is turned into an indefinite non-rotating stike, we may pay a huge price with deaths. As long as the isolation policy continues to be imposed, there will always be a huge price to pay”.
Gülçin Karaburk, another Peace Mother, stated that it is the responsibility of the Turkish government to take a step towards meeting the demands of the hunger striking prisoners and their mothers who are in pain: “The authorities should not let the mothers suffer, but prisoners’ families should strive to act as well. Not only Kurdish mothers but all mothers should stand up and give voice to the demands of the prisoners. We support the demands of our children”, she said.
“We want the isolation imposed upon leader Abdullah Öcalan to be lifted. We want the whole world to be free. We will not let our children die in the prisons. We shall unite and end this suffering”, she said.
