Following recent incidents in an Istanbul prison involving allegations of torture and suicide attempts by prisoners, which have resulted in the deaths of two prisoners in suspicious circumstances, Kurdistan Communities Union* (KCK) called on Saturday for a joint struggle in solidarity with prisoners and their families.
Stating that increased attacks by Turkish state forces have ‘led to the murder’ of several prisoners, and that the prisons have turned into ‘places of isolation, torture and death’, the KCK said:
“We call on the democratic public to take up this issue even more forcefully. The democratic public must not remain silent in the face of the actions of AKP-MHP [the Justice and Development Party and the Nationalist Movement Party ruling coalition] fascism against the prisoners. The public needs to watch this situation closely and provide support. The AKP-MHP government is dragging Turkey more and more into a dark abyss with its fascist mentality and actions, so everyone needs to stand up against the actions of AKP-MHP fascism, to protest, and to support the prisoners.”
* The KCK is a Kurdish political organisation committed to implementing ‘democratic confederalism’, a mode of political structure and government that was introduced theoretically in the works of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).