Jailed journalist Tayyip Temel can't write nor read as a result of the hunger strike he is carrying out for 41 days. Temel sent a message through his lawyer saying that “We will not end our action unless our demands are met.”

Tayyip Temel, former chief editor of Azadiya Welat daily paper, has joined the hunger strike on 12 September asking for free, healthy and safe conditions for PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) leader Abdullah Öcalan and for the recognition of the right to use one's mother language in courts.

Lawyer Cemil Özen stated after the meeting with his client in Diyarbakýr D Type Prison earlier this morning that Temel’s health condition has been deteriorating as he complains of headaches, stomach upset, weakness in sensing, diarrhea, muscle and joint pain. Özkan noted that Temel also has difficulties in reading and writing as well as in speaking.

Lawyer Özen conveyed his client’s message to the public opinion; “We have started the hunger strike to prevent further death and we will not end it until our demands are met.”

Tayyip Temel who became the chief editor of Azadiya Welat in 2006 was arrested in the scope of so-called “KCK investigation” on 3 October 2011.