The International Editor of the Morning Star Newspapers, based in London, Steve Sweeney declared a 24 hours of hunger strike to raise awareness and solidarity with the ongoing death fast resistances of Grup Yorum artsist İbrahim Gökçek and imprisoned lawyers Abru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal. Sweeney, who is the initiator of the Initiative of the Journalists for the Democracy in Turkey and Kurdistan called for support for the hunger strike resistors and their demands to be accepted.

 

Stating that his act is nothing but a "small symbolic action", Sweeney said that he wants to let people in Turkey who raise a struggle know that they are not alone. Sweeney's statements continued as follows: "When Mustafa Koçak lost his life, actually when he was killed, I made a one-day hunger strike. A young person has lost his life just because he wanted a fair trial. In order to be deeply affected by his last phone call you don't need to speak Turkish. Nobody is supposed to witness a person die like this. People of Britain are able to learn what is going on Turkey only partly. I wanted to make a difference. There are 50 thousand of political prisoners in Turkey and they are labelled as terrorists. It is such a country that raises a war against its own citizens, especially with the Kurds. The have burned people alive in the basements and they have destroyed cities. These have all happened in front of the eyes of the international public opinion. I think if there are imprisoned politicians and musicians, and people who demand peace are behind the walls and if their only option to express themselves is the hunger strike I think a voice should be raised for them."

 

FROM BOBBY SANDS TO LEYLA GÜVEN

 

Reminding the hunger strike started by Leyla Güven in order the isolation upon PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan to be removed, Sweeney told: "We should create a public opinion for the hunger strikes to have a result. Thousands of people raised their voice for the hunger strike of Güven and it has found its correspondance in many parts of the world. A similar success has been experienced in Britain in 1981. Irish hunger strike resistor Bobby Sands was declared terrorist bu Margaret Thatcher and Britain media has supported this black-labeling campaign. Sands gave his final answer to Thatcher in the ballot box and he was elected as a parliementary member in Fermanagh and in South Tyrone. As a result, the hunger strike was successfull. This brave avtion then evolved to a peace process and to the Good Friday Agreement. Sinn Fein now is a continuation of this tradition and taking power in Ireland. We are now closer to a united Irelands since the split. This was unimaginable years ago."

 

MA / Gözde Çağrı Özköse