The hunger strike resistance led by DTK co-chair and HDP Hakkari MP Leyla Güven demanding the end of the isolation of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, spread to all prisons in Turkey and Kurdistan on 1 March. 

Aziz Tufan, a prisoner in Diyarbakır D Type Prison, has been on hunger strike since the and his mother, Aysel Tufan, talked to ANF about her son's condition.

Aysel Tufan had learned from Media News that her son had gone on hunger strike: "My son - she said - has been on hunger strike for 49 days demanding the end of isolation. On Tuesday I went to the prison for a visit, but his condition was not good. He had vision problem, his friends who are fasting for 100-120 days are bleeding from their nose. Our children are not very well at all. We are suffering at home. Enough is enough, the demands of the prisoners should be accepted urgently and isolation should be terminated."

We stand by our children

The mothers of the hunger strikers wanted to hold a press conference in Koşuyolu Park to gave information about the resistance, but the police attacked them. “The police attacked the mothers at Koşuyolu Park as they were gathering there. We will not abide by the policies of kneeling and oppression.”

Aysel Tufan added: “We're mothers, our hearts are burning, but our heads are up. We have raised honorable children. So their resistance is our honor. We call on all the Kurdish people to do whatever they can. Let's be the voice of our children. We have faced many hard and difficult days, we don’t want to live worse days.”

Reacting to the silence of the government about the hunger strike resistance, Aysel Tufan said: "Isolation is a crime against humanity. Rêber Apo needs to be allowed visits with his family and lawyers. Rêber Apo is the leader of the Kurdish people. Everyone should become the voice of the prisoners. Leyla Güven is the smile of Kurdistan and the smile of Kurdistan should not fade. Let’s make our children on hunger strike live.”