The indefinite- rotating hunger strike launched by the prisoners on November 27, 2020 demanding the isolation on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan to be lifted continues on its 71st day. While authorities who are supposed to address the issue remain silent, the relatives of the prisoners are more worried everyday. Emine Altan (75) mother of Veysi Altan who is currently on hunger strike, said, ""We are all under isolation. We want the isolation to be lifted."

 

PKK Lideri Abdullah Öcalan’a yönelik tecrit ve artan hak ihlallerinin sonlandırılması talebiyle 27 Kasım 2020’den bu yana cezaevlerinde başlatılan süresiz dönüşümlü açlık grevi 71’inci gününde devam ediyor. Konunu muhatabı iktidar yetkilileri sessiz kalırken, tutuklu yakınlarının endişeleri her geçen gün artıyor. Eylemde olan Veysi Altan’ın annesi Emine Altan (75), “Tecrit hepimize uygulanıyor, son bulmasını istiyoruz” diyerek kaygılarını dile getirdi. 

 

VIOLATIONS

 

Stating that her son who is sentenced to life in prison was on a hunger strike before when he was in Mersin Tarsus Prison, Peace Mother Altan said he is now on hunger strike in Maraş Type T Prison. Altan who has not been able to visit her son for a long time due to the pandemic, said: "They prevent the prisoners from calling us on the phone too. I have been going to the prisons for years with all my health issues. There are a lot of violations of rights in prisons. Prisoners are subjected to torture. I have sent some cloths to my son, it is winter now and he hasn't recieved them yet. This is torture for us too. They send our children to prisons far away from home to prevent us from visiting them. They strip search me entering the prison sometimes. They insult us. They do not comply with the pandemic measures."

 

'WE ARE UNDER ISOLATION AS WELL'

 

Altan said: "I can not eat while our children are on hunger strike. I burst into tears eating something. Our children did not kill anyone, they did not rape anyone. They are in prison because they are Kurdish. They are the ones that raped our lives. They should be building factories not prisons. They think they can discipline the Kurds with hunger. They can't. They must meet the demands of our children. This isolation is not only in prisons. The whole Kurdish community is under isolation. We all are in prison.

 

THERE IS NO JUSTICE

 

Stating that they are afraid hunger strikers might die, Altan said they will also go on a hunger strike in front of the prisons. Altan said: "They don't have a sense of justice or conscience. They forced 70 year old mothers to lay on the floor during raids. We want the isolation to be lifted and peace to come. We are not the enemy of the Turks. Our problem is with the 'state'. They exploit us. Turks do not see it but they are captive like us. "

 

Altan underlined the importance of national unity and said: "I am calling out to all parts of Kurdistan, let's unite. No one is greater than the others. I am calling on to the mothers. Do not afraid. We will march to Ankara, in front of the Ministry of Justice if necessary, even if there's death at the end of it."