Anderson: international community needs to act to save Leyla

Anderson made a call to the international community, that, she said “needs to act to save the life of Leyla Guven and all other Kurdish hunger strikers and demand and end to the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan.”

Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson met today with Kurdish MP and hunger striker Leyla Guven. 

Speaking from Kurdistan, Martina Anderson said: "I met today with Kurdish hunger striker Leyla Guven who has been on hunger strike since November.  She has been released from prison as a result of international pressure but only under tight conditions and her health is continuing to deteriorate.” 

Anderson who had been in Amed before, but was not allowed to visit Leyla Guven when she was still in prison, added: “She embarked on this hunger strike calling for the end of the isolation of Kurdish political leader Abdullah Ocalan who has now been detained for 20 years, some of it in total isolation with no access to legal representation. I expressed my solidarity and the continuing solidarity of Sinn Féin and the people of Ireland to Leyla Guven when we met.” 

Anderson made a call to the international community, that, she said “needs to act to save the life of Leyla Guven and all other Kurdish hunger strikers and demand and end to the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan.”