Political prisoners in Gümüşhane on hunger strike

In the Turkish prison of Gümüşhane, two political prisoners have gone on hunger strike after being forced into isolation cells.

Political prisoners Ilhan Reşit and Hamza Arzuman have gone on hunger strike in protest against conditions in the E-type prison Gümüşhane in the Black Sea region. The two activists were arrested in Silopi, Şırnak in 2015 during attacks by Turkish security forces on Kurdish towns and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Ilhan Reşit told his family by phone that he and Hamza Arzuman had been refusing to eat for six days. According to relatives, he said, "Our radio, razors and many more of our things were confiscated and we were moved to solitary cells. Because we don't accept this and are protesting against it, we have been on hunger strike for six days." The political prisoner called on the public to pay attention to the untenable conditions in Turkish prisons.