Özhan Ceyhan, one of the activists of the hunger strike resistance carried out at the beginning of the year, said: "The state saw that our determination was not a bluff and had to step back. We haven't exactly  achieved our goal, but we have opened the door to break isolation. That's why we continue to fight."

The hunger strike protest which was launched by Leyla Güven, the co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and HDP Hakkari MP, on 7 November 2018 demanding the end of the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan was joined thousands of prisoners, some of whom later turned their action into death fast, and ended after 200 days.

Özhan Ceyhan is one of the prisoners who went on hunger strike in Van F-Type Prison and then on death fast on April 30. Ceyhan was on death fast for 26 days and ended his protest together with other friends after the letter written by Abdullah Öcalan was conveyed through his lawyers who were finally allowed to visit him in Imrali.

Özhan Ceyhan was in the first group of prisoners on death fast action. He reminded that Leyla Güven's stance have way to thousands to join the the hunger strike. "The purpose of the action, - he said - the manner it was carried out and the seriousness were very important. It was also a self-criticism of what we did not do when we were outside. There was a need to unite around Mr. Öcalan, because leaving a society without a leader is like cutting the flow of water."

We weren't bluffing

Ceyhan reminded that he went on death fast with 15 comrades and continued: "The state saw that our determination was not a bluff and had to step back. We have not exactly achieved our goal, but we have opened the door to break isolation. That's why we continue to fight. I had joined a hunger strike in 2012. We felt the spirit, joy and happiness of the friends in prison, but this time, being in prison, it was not the same feeling."

Referring to Mehmet Hayri Durmuş's words, 'I owe my people ’, Ceyhan said: "We felt this deeply as we started the action. We continued our action with enthusiasm and happiness. This happiness could not be described in any way. I wish we could tell this to our people. We still owe our people. Our goal is to reduce this debt."