Gülmen and Özakça arrested on the 76th day of hunger strike

Dismissed educators Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça who are on hunger strike for 76 days to get their jobs back have been remanded in custody after appearing in court today.

Academic Nuriye Gülmen and teacher Semih Özakça are two of the tens of thousands of people who were expelled with a Statutory Decree, and they were on a hunger strike in the heart of Turkish capital Ankara to get their jobs back for the last 75 days. The night before, the apartment they were staying in was raided and both were taken into custody by the special operations police.

After giving their testimonies at the prosecutor's office earlier today, both educators were referred to vacation court which ruled their arrest.

Accused of inciting a new “Gezi process”, Özakça and Gülmen faced the following questions during their interrogation at the prosecutor's office:

* A video footage in which you played a guitar and sang a song was shared on social media and you liked it. Did you think that those who shared this video could be members of a terrorist organization?

* What is the main goal of these actions that purport to be an innocent right-seeking?

* Do you seek to incite new Gezi-like incidents through collective demonstrations around the country?

* What is your purpose in staging an action that is away from right-seeking and arouses hatred and grudge among people?

* Which benefits are offered to you for staging a death fast action?

In the meantime, Semih Özakça's mother Sultan Özakça and wife Esra Özakça are also in custody.