Deniz Kaya released a statement on behalf of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and PAJK (Party of Free Women of Kurdistan) who have been on an indefinite hunger strike since 16 December 2018 and 15 prisoners on death fast since 30 April demanding the end of the isolation imposed on Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

The statement by Deniz Kaya in the name of PKK and PAJK prisoners in Turkey and North Kurdistan jails, is as follows;

“We, PKK and PAKK prisoners, followers of the 14 July resistance, continue with great resolve the indefinite and non-alternating hunger strike we launched to remove the absolute isolation on our Leader, and the death fast initiated by 15 friends on April 30.

The goal and scope of our action is now known by everyone. The isolation on our Leader is executed against our people, the humanity and democratization of Turkey. If the Turkish state wants the peoples to lead a democratic life in a country without war and exploitation, to resolve the freedom issues of peoples by ensuring all to co-exist with their ethnic and cultural identities, the addressee is Leader Apo.

Imposing a deepened isolation on the leader of a people means isolating the entire society and their value judgments and not recognising them. For this very reason, we, the PKK and PAJK prisoners in the prisons of Turkey and Bakure (Northern) Kurdistan, reclaim the value judgments of whole society and announce that we will be in resistance with great commitment to ensure a democratic and free living of peoples.

Our honorable and righteous resistance is achieving gains. Through resistance, we will take back what has been taken from us by force, and we will succeed. The faith, spirit and feeling of this leads us to resistance. At this stage, the fascist AKP-MHP alliance is implementing various special war policies in an attempt to continue with the isolation imposed on our Leader, and to break the resistance we have been a part of.

The main purpose behind allowing Öcalan’s brother to Imralı on 12 January is known to be to continue with the isolation and to break the resistance. After failing to achieve a result to this end, the Turkish regime has allowed a meeting with the lawyers of our Leader as part of its policies seeking to break the resistance.

We would like to state that the meeting held by two lawyers with our Leader on May 2nd is of great importance and value to us. However, such a meeting does not mean the end of the isolation. In essence, the meeting was held under the conditions of isolation. This is how we interpret this meeting process.

Our resistance will continue until the demands we had declared before are met and put under legal assurance by the Ministry of Justice. It needs to be known that we will never give up or make concessions on our resistance under any circumstances until the isolation is removed.

The fact that the points we had declared to the public are included in the constitution of the Republic of Turkey but still are not implemented, has shaken and individualized the sense of justice and damaged its independence.

It must be known that our resistance as PKK and PAJK prisoners is also a resistance to re-establish the reputation of the justice system that has been cheapened by the hands of the government and the State.

We would like to state that the resistance of our families, especially of our mothers, who are giving voice to this sacred resistance outside, is being an incredible source of morale for us. Outside are resisting our mothers, inside their children. The scope of our resistance shouldn’t remain limited with us alone because the isolation is essentially imposed on the entire society. For this reason, we have no alternative but to resist.

It should be known that we are in great resolve as we continue our action with consciousness and without any hesitation. We will never give up on resistance until our demands are met.

We invite all our peoples, defenders of democracy, academics, writers and intellectuals to give voice to the resistance.”