Republican News · Thursday 25 October 2001

Toll in Turkish hunger strike hits 41

A Turkish prisoner on hunger strike against controversial jail reforms died on Thursday, 18 October, in the northwest city of Izmit, bringing to 41 the death toll in the year-old protest.

Ali Ekber Baris, a 30-year-old father of one, died in a hospital in Izmit, where he had been transferred from jail after his health deteriorated, a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Association (IHD) told Agence France Press. Baris was on the 170th day of his protest fast.

The toll in the strike, which began last October against the introduction of new jails with cells for a maximum of three people, involves both inmates and associates fasting in solidarity outside prisons. Another hunger striker died last month in an Istanbul hospital from burns suffered when he set himself ablaze to denounce a police crackdown on a funeral procession for a fellow striker.

The protestors say the new prison cells, which replaced large dormitories housing up to 60 people, deepen social alienation and leave prisoners more vulnerable to mistreatment.

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Befast shows solidarity

Several hundred people attended a march and rally in support of the demands of the Turkish death fasters in Belfast last Saturday, 20 October.

The march began on the Falls Road and made its way to the headquarters of the European Union at Windsor House in the city centre. Among the crowd were representatives of Sinn Féin, including West Belfast Assembly member Alex Maskey and Eoin Ó Broin, a councillor from North Belfast. Members of the IRSP, the Socialist Workers Party and various support groups attended the rally.

At Windsor House, the rally was chaired by Maura McCrory, a community worker from West Belfast who was a key anti-H Block activist during the hunger strikes.

Alex Maskey, who has recently returned from a visit to death fast houses in Istanbul, was the main speaker. He related his experience of visiting the death fasters and explained how the Turkish military hampered his visit.

Sinan Ersoy, whose brother is on the death fast, said that the Turkish regime, which is a part of NATO, is backed by the US and Britain, who have ignored its shocking human rights record for the use of its military facilities.

Speaking to An Phoblacht, Alec McCrory, one of the organisers and a member of the Irish support committee for the Hunger Strikers, expressed his delight that the march went to the city centre on Saturday afternoon and brought the issue to a wide audience.