hunger Archives

Turkey’s jailed Kurdish HDP party leader Demirtas to start hunger strike

March 30, 2017 by administrator

DIYARBAKIR-AMED, Turkey’s Kurdish region,— A jailed co-leader of Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party plans to begin a hunger strike Friday to protest “inhumane” conditions at the prison where he is being held, the party said Thursday.

Selahattin Demirtas’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the second-largest opposition party in Turkey, is campaigning against the government’s plan for constitutional changes that would bolster President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s powers.

Demirtas and the party’s other leader, Figen Yuksekdag, have been imprisoned along with 11 other HDP lawmakers on accusations of links to Kurdish separatists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK who have waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

The government accuses the HDP of having links to the PKK, a charge that the HDP denies. Thousands of officials from the HDP have been detained since 2015.

In a message relayed by his party, Demirtas said he was striking because officials at the prison, in the northwestern province of Edirne, had refused to discuss what he termed “unlawful practices”.

Several Kurdish convicts jailed in Edirne, as well as in Izmir, Ankara and Van, have already started hunger strike to protest prison conditions.

The HDP is calling for a “no” vote in the April 16 referendum on approving constitutional changes that would create an executive presidency and abolish the post of prime minister.

The government says the changes would provide political stability by avoiding fragile coalition governments, but critics fear it will lead to one-man rule.

The PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 79-million population.

A large Kurdish community in Turkey and worldwide openly sympathise with PKK rebels and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK group in 1974, and has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide according to observers.

Source: http://ekurd.net/turkey-demirtas-hunger-strike-2017-03-30

Turkey: pro-Kurdish activists began a hunger strike

September 6, 2016 by administrator

hunger strick Fifty pro-Kurdish activists, including MPs, Monday began a hunger strike in Diyarbakir, in southeastern Turkey, to protest against the lack of information about the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

Activists complain of not having heard from the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for several months. “We have not received any objective information on the health and safety of Ocalan,” said Sabahat Tuncel, spokesman for the group.

Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned since 1999, is being held in the prison island of Imrali near Istanbul but was not allowed to receive visits nor his lawyers nor his family since the cease-fire between the PKK and Turkish security forces ended a year ago.

Dressed in T-shirts bearing the image of Öcalan, some activists shouted slogans in praise of their leader during the rally. “The strike will continue indefinitely,” he told AFP Ferhat ENCU, deputy of the pro-Kurdish party HDP, which is involved in the movement.

Sunday, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has denied any problem regarding the health and safety of Öcalan. “The subject is constantly operated by the separatist terrorist organization (PKK) and the public receives false information,” he said in a statement released by the pro-government agency Anadolu.

The strike comes as Ankara has intensified its fight against the PKK rebels in the southeast of the country. The last weekend, Turkish warplanes bombed positions of the separatist movement after the death of twenty soldiers in clashes with the PKK.

Sasna Tsrer member Ashot Petrosyan goes on hunger strike

August 4, 2016 by administrator

YEREVAN. – Sasna Tsrer armed group member Ashot Petrosyan, who is in the hospital for inmates, went on hunger strike and refused medical assistance on Thursday, his attorney Arayik Papikyan told Armenian News – NEWS.am.

“I urged him not to take that measure, considering the condition of his health, but he thanked for the care, noting that he has already taken a decision,” the attorney said.

To note, Ashot Petrosyan faces charges under Article 219 and 235.3 of the Armenian Criminal Code. He is under arrest.

U.S Armenian goes on hunger strike in front of White House “OBAMA KEEP YOUR PROMISE”

April 28, 2015 by administrator

US Armenian Davit Mnatsakanyan, founder and director of the United Armenia and the Global Education and Research Alliance (GERA) companies has gone on hunger strike in front of the President’s official residence since Friday. Davit Manatsakanyan told Armenian News – NEWS.am that he is on hunger strike over the 100the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

“Before his election President Barack Obama stated he would acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, but he hasn’t done this so far. That’s why I decided to go on hunger strike in front of the White House, bringing the public attention to that question,” Mnatsakanyan said.

His hunger strike will last till May 1-2. During these days Mnatsakanyan has been approached and supported by many Armenians and Iranians. “There were also five Turks who came up to me; one of them tried to use violence, but nothing will stop me. I’m continuing the hunger strike,” Mnatsakanyan said.

In his hand Mnatsakanyan holds a banner with an Armenian flag and the inscription ‘Obama keep your promise and recognize Armenian Genocide.’

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