Press Release

July 27, 1996

Telephone: (202) 483-6444

AKIN Salutes the Hunger Strikers

Urges Washington to Condemn Their Untimely Deaths

On July 21, 1996, a Reuters wire report noted that Aygun Ugur, a Turkish prisoner, died as a result of an hunger strike in Turkey. He, together with 2000 other Turkish prisoners, had gone on a hunger strike on May 19, 1996. They had asked the authorities in the government to stop torture and solitary confinements, among other things, in the Turkish prison system. As usual, no one, to this day, has bothered to talk with them. As this statement was being prepared, 10 other Turkish and Kurdish inmates have died. More deaths are expected. The government, the wire reports note, is planning the option of force to break the resistance of the inmates.

When the death of second hunger striker, that of Altan Bedran Kerimgiller, became public, the inmate's mother, the Press noted, had wailed: "My baby has gone. Make my baby come back!" The Turkish Justice Minister Sevket Kazan, on the other hand, instead of healing the mother's wound was assuming the aura of a commander: "I don't give a damn about the foreign press reports and letters from Amnesty International. ... Turkey is an independent country."

For years now, we have been telling the world about these tales of Turkish oppression against their opponents. This culture of oppression was recently the subject of an editorial by Ahmet Altan, one of the most insightful Turkish journalists. He wrote on July 22, 1996, "I read a declaration of our Minister of Culture in the paper Hurriyet the day before yesterday. He said that our people like Kirkpinar fighting, (Kirkpinar refers to a city where Turkish all-in wrestling tournaments take place) it doesn't like opera and ballet; we like hand to hand fighting." This reminded us of another infamous quote, from another brutal period, by one of Hitler's ideologues, Himmler: "When I hear the word culture, I reach out for my revolver."

Some 14 years ago, on July 14, 1982, four Kurdish prisoners began a hunger strike that culminated in their deaths over the political and civil rights of the Kurds. Their memory has now sparked the Kurdish liberation struggle all over the Middle East. Their pictures adorn the Kurdish homes. Their names are given to the Kurdish boys. Today, 10,000 Kurdish political prisoners still languish in Turkish jails. On Friday, July 26, 1996, they had a joint statement indicating their decision to join their Turkish friends, through their own hunger strike, in solidarity.

Washington, as usual, pretends to be oblivious to the atrocities of the Turkish government. Ankara is hailed as a friend, sometimes as a model -- when these deaths do not occur -- for others to emulate. The statement that emanated from the State Department was short. It said, "We deeply regret the loss of life that has occurred." But lest this might offend Ankara, it added, "... [this] is an internal affair of Turkey."

We condemn unequivocally this validation of oppression against the inmates, the Kurds and other opponents of the Turkish government. We salute the strikers, their loved ones, and others who have expressed indignation over these untimely deaths. We wish it to be known that we welcomed the statement by the European Commissioner Hans van den Broek urging Turkey in strong language to "prevent further deaths." We ask the State Department to do no less.