AMED - 73-year-old Meyaser Akdağ, who lost his two children in the struggle for freedom and her husband in exile, maintains his belief in victory despite all the pain he has experienced. Akdağ said: “Despite our age, we come here for peace. We want no more corpses to leave the prison." 

 

The rotating hunger strike action initiated by political prisoners in prisons to demand the freedom of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and the solution of the Kurdish issue continues on its 26th day. As the Justice Sit-in launched in Amed(Diyarbakır) under the leadership of the Association for Assistance with Prisoner Families (TUAY-DER) enters its 19th day, new relatives of prisoners join the watch every day.

 

73-year-old Meyaser Akdağ is one of the mothers who came to Amed from Êlih(Batman) and joined the sit-in.

 

ARREST, IMMIGRATION, DEATHS...

 

Akdağ, one of the founders of the Peace Mothers Council in Istanbul in 1997, has been struggling for the democratic solution of the Kurdish issue for years. Akdağ, whose husband was arrested after the September 12 Military Coup, was forced to emigrate to Istanbul in 1982. Akdağ, who is a living witness of the reflection of security policies on the Kurdish issue, served in prison for 17 years.

 

Even though her husband Osman Akdağ was released after 17 years, the pressure on the family did not end. Osman Akdağ, against whom many lawsuits were filed, went to Northern and Eastern Syria and died due to the coronavirus he caught in Hemko, where he stayed in 2020.

 

AKDAĞ LOST TWO CHILDREN FOR FREEDOM

 

Meyaser Akdağ's pain and persecution are not limited to this. Akdağ lost two of her children due to the deadlock and war policies imposed on the Kurdish issue. Akdağ's son Metin Akdağ (Ceng), who joined the PKK in 1992, died in 1994, and his daughter Sakine Akdağ (Binevş Ceng), who joined the PKK in 1996 after her brother, died in 2018.

 

Despite all these losses, Akdağ was detained and tried many times during her uninterrupted struggle for freedom and peace. In 2012, she went on a hunger strike in prisons with 25 Peace Mothers. She protested in front of the AKP Batman Provincial Directorate against the massacres that took place during the curfew in 2015 and took his place at the forefront in all democratic actions and events. Akdağ, who struggled for peace for years, was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison on the charge of "being a member of a terrorist organization" at the Batman 2nd High Criminal Court.

 

Now, at the Justice Sit-in, Akdağ, who demanded the physical freedom of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan so that he can play his role in the democratic solution of the Kurdish issue, wants to give voice to the voices of prisoners in prisons with the same demand.

 

'WE ARE IN THE SIT-IN FOR PEACE DESPITE OUR AGE'

 

Stating that despite their age, they were in the sit-in for peace, Akdağ said: "For people not to die anymore... We want no more corpses to come out of the prison. The absolute isolation carried out in İmralı has now been implemented on the entire Kurdish people, A step must be taken now because today our people are under isolation not only in İmralı but also in 4 parts of Kurdistan. The isolation in İmralı should be lifted. Let there be no more war, let the doors of the dungeons be opened. Let them know this, we will continue this struggle until there is only one Kurd left. We are ın the sit-in for peace despite our age. I am hopeful for victory." 

  

MA / Mehmet Güleş