On 17 December 14 Kurdish activists have gone on hunger strike in Strasbourg. They have now entered day 67 of their fast.

The hunger strikers are continuing their fast with determination and are visited by many Kurds living all over Europe.

Despite their health quickly deteriorating, hunger strikers want to meet the visitors, even if for a short time.

ATIK: Isolation is imposed on all revolutionary prisoners

Several organizations representing Turkish left and workers have sent delegations to visit the hunger strikers.

The European Confederation of Workers from Turkey (ATIK) and Mannheim Freedom and Democracy Initiative as well as people coming from France and Germany offered their support and solidarity to the hunger strikers.

In a statement, ATIK said they have supported the hunger strike since the first day. ATIK Representative said that they had come to visit the hunger strikers in Strasbourg to express their solidarity and to draw attention to the importance of resistance against the isolation of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

ATIK Representative said that the isolation imposed on the Kurdish leader is actually imposed on all revolutionary prisoners in Turkey's prisons.

Koç: Let’s break the international silence

Speaking on behalf of the hunger strikers, Yüksel Koç underlined that hunger strike resistance has exposed what isolation means for the peoples of the Middle East.

Emphasizing that they made the right decision with this action, Yüksel Koç once again stated that their demands are the demands of all peoples, women and different sectors.

He also called on Kurds to support the resistance wherever they are so to break the international silence of the institutions.

Koç said that international organizations would not act on their own initiative and criticised the passive attitude of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

Solidarity from Mannheim

A written message was read on behalf of the Mannheim Freedom and Democracy Initiative, which visited the activists on Wednesday.

In the message it was underlined that “hunger strikes are the expression of the universal and historical aspiration of humanity. Freedom is the universal right of peoples.”

Emphasizing that societies can be free if every individual is free, the message added that the ongoing resistance, especially in prisons, should be supported.

Who are the Strasbourg hunger strikers?

The 14 Kurdish activists on hunger strike in Strasbourg are:

HDP former MP Dilek Öcalan, journalist Gülistan Çiya Ike, politician Mustafa Sarıkaya, KCDK-E co-chair Yüksel Koç, Nurgül Başaran, Ramazan İmir, Mehmet Nimet Sevim, Mohamed Ghaderi, Deniz Sürgüt, Ayvaz Ece, Kardo Bokani, Kerem Solhan, Agit Ural and Ekrem Yapıcı.

Doctor Fahrettin Gülşen, who is monitoring the hunger strikers daily, warned that the health problems suffered by the activists are getting worse by the day and could cause permanent damages.