Safiye Alağaş

 

DİYARBAKIR - In order to abolish the isolation imposed upon PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and end the violations of rights in prisons, the families, whose children are on hunger strike, called for supporting the prisoner's action and said, "Because this resistance is for all of us."

 

The hunger strike which started on November 27 by prisoners in Turkey's and region's prisons to abolish the continued isolation of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and end the right violations in prisons continues. The action, which has entered its 43rd day, continues with the 9th group. A group takes over the hunger strike every 5 days. Relatives of prisoners living in Lice district of Diyarbakır called for solidarity with the prisoners.

 

'We will be in solidarity with our children'

 

Sedat Baygeldi, who was previously in Diyarbakır T Type Closed Prison and exiled to Antep H Type Closed Prison in 2013, took part in the third group of the hunger strike. Sedat's mother Şükran Baygeldi called for solidarity with the prisoners who were on a hunger strike. Stating that the resistance is for the whole society, Şükran said, "I will fight as a prisoner's mother. Today, not only my children are in prison. The children of thousands of people are in prison for political reasons. Most of the lives of our children were in prison. Their rights are trampled and they are persecuted. Our children, who resisted the persecution and did not bow down, are on a hunger strike. They resist not only for themselves. They resist for all of us. We are responsible for protecting their resistance and actions, too. We, as the mothers of prisoners, resisted for our children who had been on hunger strike before. Today, we will resist and fight again. I will support my son until the end, I support all political prisoners. Let this fear and silence on families be broken. The demands of our children are humanistic and the demands that can be fulfilled. As families, we will be in solidarity with our children instead of silence."

 

'Isolation must end to end the persecution'

 

Reminding that Sedat participated in a hunger strike 2 years ago too, Şükran stated that her son was on a hunger strike for 90 days. She said, ''90 days.. Is it enough? When the hunger strike was over, I visited him. There were injures on his body. He had health problems. He was hiding his skin so that I would not see the injures on his body. When I saw those injuries, I said to him: ‘Son, the way you are walking is the right  and fair way. You are not walking in an unfair way. ' Many prisoners experienced health problems at that time. They are again on a hunger strike now. The hunger strike started with a fair demand. This demand is also our demand. The isolation must end in order end this persecution "

 

‘We need to be in solidarity’

 

Underlining that the conditions in which the prisoners live are known, Şükran said, "They have no enough means of nutrition or hygiene. When my son phoned me he asked, 'Mom, why don't you do anything?' I don't know what I can do alone. We all need to be in solidarity. We must support the action to produce results quickly.  Thus, mothers and everyone who is aware of the hunger strike should make a sound.''

 

‘He was on hunger strike for about 6 months’

 

Mehmet Şirin Polat, who has been in Diyarbakır D Type Closed Prison for five years, also joined the hunger strike with the fifth group.  Şanaz Polat, Mehmet's mother, recalled that her son participated in the hunger strike 2 years ago and said, "At that time, the prisoners were in very hard condition. Our hearts were burned as all mothers. While they were hungry in prison, we couldn't eat a bite of bread. My son was on hunger strike for almost 6 months at that time. Now they are on hunger strike again. I don't know what to say anymore. I have no words to say anymore. No words can express the pain in my heart. We have been waiting for our children for years. My son does not tell me what he lives, so I would not be sad, but I know that they are in bad conditions.''

 

'Our children's demands must be accepted'

 

Finally, Şanaz called for solidarity with the prisoners and said: "The demands of our children should be accepted. The doors of the prisons should be opened. Until when will mothers long for their children? Isolation is not only applied in prisons. We are all in isolation. The Kurds must wake up and be in solidarity with hunger strikers. Enough for this persecution and oppression. All the political prisoners are our children. This silence hurts the relatives of prisoners much. "