Hülya Karahan

In Turkey the prisoners, who have been on an hunger strike since 25 February, ended their actions by saying that the  dialogue with the prison administration were opened In Edirne F Type Prison. 

Pro Kurdish party HDP Co-Chairman Selahattin Demirtaş and his party’s Hakkari Deputy Abdullah Zeydan, who had been in detention in the same prison, as of today participated in the ongoing hunger strike of approximately 40 days.

According to the lawyer Ibrahim Bilmez, a lawyer from the libertarian jurist platform, the detainees were “opened dialogue between the prison administration’s HDP representatives, Libertarian Lawyers Platform, Society and Legal Research Foundation, Human Rights Association officials and finally with us. The prison administration has promised to solve the existing problems, “he said.

In other prisons where hunger strikes in Turkey are not yet known whether their actions have ended.

Selahattin Demirtaş and Abdullah Zeydan explained that they were pleased with the end of the hunger strikes in Edirne F Type Prison.

Selahattin Demirtaş and Abdullah Zaydan called on the General Director of the Prison and the Minister of Justice, especially the principals of other prisons undergoing hunger strikes, to take initiative in solving the problems in dialogue with the prisoners who continued the hunger strike.

In the statement made by Demirtaş and Zeydan:

“We call the prisoners to take responsibility for completing their hunger strike in the frame work of dialogue, and for the other prisons like Edirne Prison, we call the public to be sensitive until the hunger strikes are all over, we thank our law and human rights institutions and lawyers for their contribution. We offer our gratitude. ”

Some prisoners began hunger strike in Şakran Prison in Izmir on 15 February.  Later on, prisoners in different prisons also started hunger strike action.

Hunger-striking prisoners demanded removal of detention on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and the abolition of rights violations in prisons.