Kurdistan Hungerstrike Updates

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada)

Hungerstrike Updates

---
Press Release #4 - July 24, 1995

In Paris, Police Trap 300 Hungerstrikers In St. Eustache

     Since authorities in Paris would not grant the Kurdish
hungerstrikers any appropriate location for their event, they
commenced their event in the Kurdish community centre in Paris.
After police attempts to disturb their action, the 300
participants headed for the centrally-located church of St.
Eustache. They held a meeting there declaring the church the new
location of the hungerstrike. Police forces reacted by assaulting
the house of prayer and blocking all the exits. Several hundred
supporters of the strike protesting against the trapping of the
hungerstrikers clashed with police and a French journalist was
wounded. When the police stopped trapping the hungerstrikers at
11:00 PM, the crowd held a spontaneous rally through the streets
of Paris.

In London, Police Provoke Hungerstrikers

     The London hungerstrike became a target of provocations by
the British police. However, the many attempts to escalate the
situation did not succeed due to the high morale of the
hungerstrikers. A spokesperson for the London Hungerstrike
Committee stated that the provocations must be seen in context
with the trial of National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK)
representative Kani Yilmaz after 9 months of detention in
Belmarsh prison.

In Frankfurt, Church Opens Gates While Police Attack Kurds 
     The hungerstrike of about 250 Kurds in Frankfurt enjoys
growing public response after having been outlawed initially.
Representatives of the University Students Parliament, a Tamil
organization, the Church of Unification, and the German Communist
Party (DKP) held speeches at the location. Meanwhile, police
tried to rip down flags of the ERNK and pictures of Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, attacking the
participants four times.
     In a press release, Father Dr. Stoodt of the neighboring
Katharinenkirche declared that he would open the gates of his
church to give shelter to the hungerstrikers. Today, Members of
Parliament will have a discussion at the location on "the German
state's hostile policies towards the Kurds".

The Hague: Members of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, founded
in April, visited the hungerstrikers. Ali Yigit, MP and
Nizamettin Toguc, MP declared that the Parliament would always
approve of and support actions like this hungerstrike. Further,
they stated that Turkey must immediately respect the Geneva
Conventions and answer the appeals of the Kurdish side. There was
no other way to go, they said.

Geneva: A hungerstrike commenced by 80 persons on July 21. The
local Hungerstrike Committee announced a press conference. 
Berlin: The hungerstrike event on the central Kurfurstendamm
enjoys broad response. Except police confiscating materials on
Kurdistan, the event was calm.

---
Press Release #5 - July 24, 1995

The Hague: A group of Dutch supporters held a vigil at the
location of the hungerstrike on the 22nd. On the 23rd, the
European spokesperson for the National Liberation Front of
Kurdistan (ERNK), Ali Sapan, gave a speech at the location and
stressed the historical importance of the 14th of July, the
anniversary of the prison resistance of 1982. On that day,
Kurdish political prisoners in the military prison in Diyarbakir
started a hungerstrike to the death in order to protest against
torture and ill-treatment in the prisons. This fast until death,
which cost 4 people their lives, was a central event in the birth
of the national liberation movement of Kurdistan, Sapan stated.
He pointed out that this year's protest action, which began in
the prisons, has spread out not only across the metropoles of
Turkey and Kurdistan but all over Europe and other continents as
well. Today, the Turkish government has lost in terms of economy
and politics, he said. Also, several Alevi associations visited
the location of the hungerstrike. 

Rochester: In a prison in the British town of Rochester, 69
prisoners have started a hungerstrike in solidarity with the
10,000 Prisoners of War from Kurdistan on July 20. This group
consists of 31 Bosnians, 15 Rumanians, 12 Indians, 8 Pakistanis,
1 Arab, 1 person from Zaire, and 1 Turkish prisoner.

Washington: Remzi Kartal, member of the Executive Council of the
Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, opened this hungerstrike on July
20. He stated that the 12 hungerstrikers were not alone in their
convictions, but rather were together with more than 10,000
people across the world. The interest of the American public as
well as the Kurdish population in exile in America in the
hungerstrike and its backgrounds in growing.

Geneva: A delegation of scholars attending a historical congress
in Lausanne visited the location of the hungerstrike and
expressed their support for the demands brought forth.

The latest figures for the solidarity hungerstrikes:

Stockholm      100
The Hague      150
Paris          300
London          70
Athens          50
Washington      12
Geneva          80
Moscow          70
Frankfurt      300
Berlin         200
Rochester       69

---
Press Release #6 - July 24, 1995

PKK Prisoner of War Fesih Beyazcicek Ended His Life In Yozgurt
Prison

     Today's events in Yozgurt prison are an example of the way
Turkey treats the Kurds. The Prisoner of War Fesih Beyazcicek
from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), born in Bitlis-Guroymak,
fell seriously ill after the hungerstrike in Yozgurt had been
commenced by 170 prisoners from the PKK, DHKP-C, TKP-L, MLKP-K,
and TKP-ML on July 14. However, he was transferred to a medical
station much too late, fellow prisoners stated. Beyazcicek died
because medical aid had been refused to him by the prison guards
for too long.
     Beyazcicek was arrested in March 1994 when security forces
accused him of "distributing propaganda for the PKK" at the
Kurdish new year's celebration Newroz. He probably would have
been released in 20 days.
     In face of these events, the Bureau for Solidarity with the
Hungerstrike of the 10,000 Prisoners of War reiterates its appeal
to the media, democratic organizations and institutions, and the
progressive public to pay adequate attention to the dirty war in
Kurdistan and to contribute to the fulfilling of the demands made
by the 10,000 Prisoners of War.
     These demands are:

1. In order to reach a political solution, calls made by PKK
leader Abdullah Ocalan for a dialogue must be supported and
encouraged. 

2. Geneva Convention regulations covering combatants must be
observed and enforced in Kurdistan.

3. Killing of civilians, summary executions, torture in prisons,
and the burning of villages must come to an end.

4. All war prisoners in jails must be classified as POWs.

5. All military operations designed to destroy our people must be
stopped.

6. Under the auspices of the UN and the Red Cross, committees
must be formed and sent to monitor the war in Kurdistan and
prison conditions.

----
Press Release #8 - July 27, 1995

In Istanbul, Families Of Prisoners March On Galatasaray

     The families of Prisoners of War, who are themselves on
hungerstrike in Baheieviler, rallied in Istanbul on July 23.
Despite massive hindrances from the security forces, they were
able to achieve their aim by having a sit-down strike until the
security forces let them march to the headquarters of the United
Socialist Party (BSP) in Galatasaray. The families sent petition
telegrams to several Turkish ministers and to organizations and
associations from the post office in Galatasaray. About 1,000
members of the "Association for Solidarity with the Families of
the Prisoners" also sent telegrams from there at night to the
United Nations, the Red Cross, various international human rights
organizations, the Turkish National Council, and to President
Demirel.

In South Kurdistan, Broad Support For The Demands Of The
Prisoners Awakes

     Meanwhile, in South Kurdistan, a number of parties have
expressed their support for the hungerstrikers and their demands,
among them the Kurdistan Independent Workers Party, the National
Democratic Association of Kurdistan, the Kurdish Labour Party of
Iraq, Kurdistan Workers Struggle, the Democratic Party of Iran,
the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDP-Iran), and the KDP-Iran
Revolutionary Leadership, and others.

Wave Of Hungerstrikes Across Kurdistan And Turkey

     The hungerstrikes by relatives of the Prisoners of War in
the offices of the Peoples Democracy Party (HADEP) in Adana,
Seyhan, and Yuregir suffer from a lack of space. HADEP has issued
an appeal calling on democratic organizations to open their
premises to the hungerstrikers. As the number of hungerstrikers
was growing daily, there was an acute lack of space in the
offices of the party.
     Meanwhile, hungerstrikes have also started in the HADEP
offices in Mersin and Hatay. The HADEP office in Diyarbakir must
turn away new participants, since there are already 100 PKK
relatives there who have been fasting since July 18. According to
the latest news, the hungerstrike in Antalya which started on
July 22 is being threatened by security forces. The building is
surrounded and visitors are refused entry and taken to the police
station. HADEP spokesperson Murat Yucel has stated that this
repression is the result of the unease felt by the police because
of the ongoing hungerstrike and the many visitors to the office.
The party has condemned the police action.

Urfa: 16 women Prisoners of War from the PKK are boycotting their
court hearings. They must be brought to court by force now. In a
statement, the hungerstrikers explained that prior to the boycott
they hadn't been taken to court because transport costs were
deemed too high. Only since the strike began have they been
dragged to court by force. The boycott will continue, they said.

Ankara: The detainees in Merkes Kapali prison in Ankara are also
boycotting their trials. Since the beginning of the hungerstrike,
paramilitary gendarmes have been deployed instead of the normal
prison guards. Security measures have been increased, such as the
installation of additional iron bars. Because the gendarmes are
also present during visits, these are boycotted as well.

Mersin: The Human Rights Association (IHD) has published a
statement saying that they would like to mediate in talks between
the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Turkish government in
order to see the demands of the war prisoners fulfilled. As the
IHD are concerned about the health of the hungerstrikers, the
statement said it would conduct every possible mediating function
necessary. The war is no solution, so both sides must sit down at
a round table in order to avoid further bloodshed.

---
Kurdish Woman Hungerstriker Killed By Police In Berlin

(from the daily newspaper The Toronto Star, July 28, 1995) 

Hunger Strike Claims Kurd, 41
Activists in Germany press for end of war

     Bonn, Germany - A woman on a hungerstrike died in Berlin
yesterday amid a wave of protests and attacks on Turkish
properties in Germany that police have linked to Kurdish
activists. Police said the dead woman was among a group of
several hundred Kurds in Germany showing solidarity with
imprisoned members of the separtist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
in Turkey.
     A Belgian-based Kurdish organization, in a statement
distributed in Germany, named the dead woman as Gulnaz Bagiztani,
41, and said she had been on the hungerstrike for eight days.
Imprisoned PKK members, who are fighting an 11-year battle for
independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey, started the hunger
strike on July 14 to demand Ankara open talks to end the war.
Ankara has not yet responded to the hungerstrike.
     The pro-Kurdish newspaper Yeni Politika said hundreds of
Kurds in Europe were also on sympathy hungerstrikes or had
occupied buildings in support. Between 8,000 and 10,000 people in
22 Turkish jails joined the hungerstrike, the Human Rights
Association of Turkey said. Turkish Kurds in Germany and Britain
have protested over various Kurdish issues this week.
     Police detained about 80 Kurds in Frankfurt as they broke up
a week-long vigil for displaying the symbols of the PKK, which is
banned in Germany for extremism. Eight Turkish properties were
firebombed during the night in Germany. It was the third
consecutive night of such attacks, and police said some of the
incidents were the work of the PKK. Prosecutors in the
south-western city of Stuttgart said police had detained five
suspects after a firebombing in the town of Villingen-Schweningen
took the total of such attacks in the area in the last three days
to 12. Two Kurds made confessions that indicated "the majority or
all of the attacks were probably masterminded by the banned
Kurdistan Workers Party", a police spokesperson said.
     Interior Minister Manfred Kanther called on Kurds living in
Germany not to support political extremists. "We must proceed
against PKK terror with resolve and determination", he said in a
statement.
     Stuttgart investigators have linked some of the attacks to
the planned extradition to Germany from Britain of PKK member
Kani Yilmaz, who has been given 14 days to return to Germany.
Bonn is seeking Yilmaz on suspicion of helping to organize, as
European head of the PKK, the series of Europe-wide attacks on
Turkish properties in 1993 and 1994 that led to the banning of
the PKK in Germany.

---
Press Release #10 - July 28, 1995

Berlin: After the death of Gulnaz Bagiztani in Berlin, more than
1,000 Kurdish people have gathered in the Kurdistan House where
the hungerstrike is continued. The husband of the fallen Gulnaz
Bagiztani held a speech in front of the crowd. Police surrounded
the building but did not attack because of the death. One of two
arrested persons has been released in the meantime.

Frankfurt: Following the police attacks and break-up of the
hungerstrike, a new group of 60 hungerstrikers has formed on July
27. It increased to 300 persons in the evening and was then again
subjected to police assaults resulting in serious clashes. During
a demonstration in the city centre, several shops were damaged. 
Dusseldorf: Nine Alevi community centres in Germany have
expressed their support for the hungerstrike by the Prisoners of
War. Their members will go on hungerstrike on July 28 at 3:00 PM
in the Alevi Pir House of Culture in Dusseldorf in order to
protest against the dirty war in Turkey and to stop the
bloodshed.

Geneva: The strike continues with high motivation and broad
support, most recently expressed by the group LIDLIP and the
International Association of Democratic Youth.

Paris: The hungerstrike by 103 participants including 40 women
was attended to by delegations of the International Medical
Association, the Red Cross, and the group New Human Rights.
Furthermore, the Federation of Institutions for Human Rights
(FIDH), France Liberte, the Socialist Party, and the Organization
of Political Prisoners have called the strike a positive step
towards a political dialogue.

Stockholm: Talks with the Middle East regional officer of the
International Red Cross resulted in a promise to involve the
Scandanavian Red Cross committees in medical care for the
hungerstrikers and to distribute the demands of the PKK Prisoners
of War. A representative of the Internationalist Social
Democratic Party, Conny Fredrikson, offered to mediate in talks
between Ocalan and officials of the Turkish state.

Breda: In a refugee camp in the Dutch town of Gilse near Breda,
20 Kurdish refugees began a hungerstrike on July 23 after the
warden refused to let them participate in the central
hungerstrike in The Hague.

---
Huge Funeral Procession In Berlin

     On August 1, 1995, there was a massive funeral procession to
honor Gulnaz Bagiztani, a Kurdish mother of five who was killed
in a police attack on Kurdish hungerstrikers in Berlin. According
to the KURD-A news agency, around 35,000 people marched through
Berlin waving flags of the outlawed National Liberation Front of
Kurdistan (ERNK) and pictures of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Kurds in Germany have vowed to continue their hungerstrikes and
they have called on the German police to cease their attacks on
Kurdish protestors. 
---

-----
Kurdistan Committee of Canada		Tel: (613) 733-9634
2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203		Fax: (613) 733-0090
Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9		E-mail: kcc at magi.com
		http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc
-----