AKIN Salutes The Hunger Strikers

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: akin at burn.ucsd.edu (American Kurdish Information Network)

[From the web site of AKIN, http://burn.ucsd.edu/~akin]


American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
July 27, 1996
Press Release #12
Telephone: (202) 483-6444

AKIN Salutes the Hunger Strikers
Urges Washington to Condemn Their Untimely Deaths

On July 21, 1996, a Reuters wire report noted that Aygun Ugur, a Turkish
prisoner, died as a result of an hunger strike in Turkey.  He, together
with 2000 other Turkish prisoners, had gone on a hunger strike on May 19,
1996.  They had asked the authorities in the government to stop torture and
solitary confinements, among other things, in the Turkish prison system.
As usual, no one, to this day, has bothered to talk with them.  As this
statement was being prepared, 10 other Turkish and Kurdish inmates have
died. More deaths are expected.  The government, the wire reports note, is
planning the option of force to break the resistance of the inmates.

When the death of second hunger striker, that of Altan Bedran Kerimgiller,
became public, the inmate's mother, the Press noted, had wailed: "My baby
has gone.  Make my baby come back!"  The Turkish Justice Minister Sevket
Kazan, on the other hand, instead of healing the mother's wound was
assuming the aura of a commander: "I don't give a damn about the foreign
press reports and letters from Amnesty International.  ...  Turkey is an
independent country."

For years now, we have been telling the world about these tales of Turkish
oppression against their opponents.  This culture of oppression was
recently the subject of an editorial by Ahmet Altan, one of the most
insightful Turkish journalists.  He wrote on July 22, 1996, "I read a
declaration of our Minister of Culture in the paper Hurriyet the day before
yesterday.  He said that our people like Kirkpinar fighting, (Kirkpinar
refers to a city where Turkish all-in wrestling tournaments take place) it
doesn't like opera and ballet; we like hand to hand fighting."  This
reminded us of another infamous quote, from another brutal period, by one
of Hitler's ideologues, Himmler: "When I hear the word culture, I reach out
for my revolver."

Some 14 years ago, on July 14, 1982, four Kurdish prisoners began a hunger
strike that culminated in their deaths over the political and civil rights
of the Kurds.  Their memory has now sparked the Kurdish liberation struggle
all over the Middle East.  Their pictures adorn the Kurdish homes.  Their
names are given to the Kurdish boys.  Today, 10,000 Kurdish political
prisoners still languish in Turkish jails.  On Friday, July 26, 1996, they
had a joint statement indicating their decision to join their Turkish
friends, through their own hunger strike, in solidarity.

Washington, as usual, pretends to be oblivious to the atrocities of the
Turkish government.  Ankara is hailed as a friend, sometimes as a model  --
when these deaths do not occur  --  for others to emulate.  The statement
that emanated from the State Department was short.  It said, "We deeply
regret the loss of life that has occurred."  But lest this might offend
Ankara, it added, "... [this] is an internal affair of Turkey."

We condemn unequivocally this validation of oppression against the inmates,
the Kurds and other opponents of the Turkish government.  We salute the
strikers, their loved ones, and others who have expressed indignation over
these untimely deaths.  We wish it to be known that we welcomed the
statement by the European Commissioner Hans van den Broek urging Turkey in
strong language to "prevent further deaths."  We ask the State Department
to do no less.

American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)
2623 Connecicut Avenue NW #1
Washington, DC 20008-1522

Tel: (202) 483-6444
Fax: (202) 483-6476
E-mail: akin at kurdish.org
Home Page: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~akin