The chairmen of the Kon-Kurd confederation of more than 140 Kurdish associations in Europe Ismet Kem confirmed to AKnews that the life of some of the Kurds on hunger strike is already in danger.
The 15 protestors in Europe and the 400 Kurds in Turkey will continue the hunger strike until their demands are met. Kem called on EU and international institutions to act before the lose of human life.
The Kurdish protestors in Turkish prisons started their hunger strike 43 days ago, followed by 15 Kurds in Europe, who have been continuing their action for 28 days. Many thousands of other Kurds supported the action with alternate five-day hunger strike acts in groups.
Among the 15 Kurds on hunger strike in Europe are writers, intellectuals and politicians. One of them is Fuad Kav, who has already spent 20 years of his life in a Turkish prison where many tens of Kurdish political prisoners have died or been killed during hunger strikes after a military coup in 1980.
The Kurdish protestors are calling on the European Council, the EU and international institutions to take action against the pressures that Turkey puts on Kurdish people. They also demand that representatives of Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture visit Abdullah Öcalan and witness the condition of his detention.
The protestors demand better conditions for Öcalan, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, who has been isolated from his lawyers for the last eight months. Öcalan was abducted by Turkish authorities and imprisoned in Imrali Prison in the Marmara Sea off Istanbul, Turkey.
By Roni Alasor and Lorin Sarkisian
