Hunger strikers in the self-administered refugee camps of Lavrio and Maxmur demand the lifting of the isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. They vow to continue the alternating strike until success.
Since November 27, 2020, a hunger strike alternating in five-day shifts has been taking place in Turkish prisons to lift the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan. Refugees in the self-administered camp of Maxmur have been participating in the hunger strike for 141 days and in the Lavrio camp near Athens for 124 days. Mezopotamya news agency spoke to the strikers.
"Do not try our patience"
The hunger strike in self-administered Lavrio Camp is led by the Revolutionary Youth Movement (TCŞ), the Kurdish Women's Movement in Europe (TJK-E) and the Kurdish Cultural Center (NÇK). Beriwan Karakoyun in Lavrio camp participates in the hunger strike. She talks about the severe isolation of Mr. Öcalan, the ban on visiting him for years and the importance of the Kurdish leader for the people. She says: "If Mr. Öcalan is released, the peoples will come together, the system of confederalism will be implemented and the thrones of the colonialists will be shaken. Since they are afraid of this, they are intensifying isolation and war. No one should try the patience of the Kurdish people. The day may come when they cannot find a Kurd to sit down with them for peace. Before that day comes, they should sit down at the table with the Kurdish leader. In the meantime, the Kurds are standing up for their identity and have fought for great achievements in every sense. Therefore, no one should believe that they can be erased. They will stand up until their representative is free."
"We are angry"
Kamuran Kabul, a hunger striker from the Maxmur refugee camp, demands an end to the isolation of Öcalan and all political prisoners. He says that people are very angry because, as Kurds, they are denied their constitutional rights. “The AKP is hostile to Kurds and everything Kurdish. The isolation of Öcalan is nothing other than a message of destruction to the Kurdish people. Öcalan, with his knowledge and experience, is now regarded as a leader by various peoples in the Middle East. Since the imperialist forces fear this and see their interests threatened, isolation and war are intensified.”
Kabul announced that the hunger strike would continue until results were achieved and called on the South Kurdistan’s ruling party KDP not to be a tool of Turkish fascism.
