The hunger strikers demand the right to use the Kurdish language in judicial proceedings, the right to use the Kurdish language in education, and an end to the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan.
The hunger strike of Kurdish prisoners started since September 12th, 2012, is continuing and gaining a stronger and stronger support in Turkey, and in the International arena, as well, where many demonstrations took place in numerous European countries, especially in Brussels, where a crowd of a few thousands gathered at the European Parliament and marched through the streets, voicing their concern to the ongoing crisis in the Turkish prisons.
An estimated 9,000 Kurdish prisoners in Turkey, are denied the right to defend themselves in their mother tongue during trials, and are making a call to Turkey and to the world to hear them. They are left with no choice but to use their own bodies as a means of communication and fight, at the cost of a slow and painful death in the eyes of a totally indifferent Turkish state.
The European Armenian Federation joins to the calls of European Organizations and EU institutions, most notably of EU Parliament President Mr. Martin Schulz, who stated “I follow with concern the hunger strike of jailed Kurdish prisoners, among them elected officials, and of Members of Parliament in Turkey. I call on the Turkish authorities to address the concerns of the protesters”.
The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy notes once again Turkey’s refusal to come to terms with its past, and respect the existence, identity and Rights of Minorities – small and large, perished and present – in the country, the oppressions of which are a state policy, violating all norms of Fundamental Human Rights, Freedom and Dignity.
