İSTANBUL - Defining the Imrali isolation as "the symbol of aggression against the Kurdish people", BMG components said, "There is isolation aimed at suppressing the justified demands of the Kurdish nation."

 

PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held under severe isolation conditions in İmralı High Security F-Type Prison for 22 years. While various segments of the society protested the isolation, the hunger strike launched by thousands of prisoners in prisons has entered its 89th day. Stating that the isolation has spread to the whole society, the United Fighting Forces (BMG) components stated that in order to end the isolation, the hunger strikes started in prisons should be heard by everyone.

 

'A SYMBOL OF AGGRESSION AGAINST THE KURDS'

 

Defining the isolation as "the symbol of aggression against the Kurdish people", Alinteri Representative Mürrüvet Küçük said, "İmralı has a special and political meaning for the Kurdish people. The level of the aggression against the Kurds becomes concrete with the İmralı isolation. It is loosened sometimes according to the political atmosphere." Underlining that the government deepens the isolation on Öcalan, Küçük said: "The aggression we experience right now shows clearly the attitude of the Turkish capital towards the Kurdish problem. Instead of solving this problem, the government is t rying to solve this problem by trying to crushing and supressing the Kurds."

 

'ISOLATION SPREADS TO ALL PRISONS'

 

Partisan Representative Rahime Kavrar pointed out that the isolation of Imrali should be examined in two ways, said: “The first one is the serious extortion of rights in terms of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan and the prisoners staying with him. The government legitimizes the isolation in Imrali and spreads it to all prisons. This causes serious rights violations for all prisoners."

 

THE PURPOSE IS TO SUPRESS THE PEOPLE

 

Underlining that the second way to examine the isolation is that the whole Kurdish community is being isolated with the isolation in İmralı, Kavrar said: "The leader of a community is being held there under isolation. It means the whole community is under isolation. So when we stand up against isolation, we have to see things in the perspective of the violations of rights of any prisoner."

 

CALL FOR SUPPORT FOR THE HUNGER STRIKERS

 

Calling for support for the hunger stikers in prisons, Kavrar said: "Hunger striking is an important method of demonstration in terms of the removal of the isolation. The prisoners haven't started the stike for their own violations of rights but also for the isolation in İmralı. Therefore this is a struggle that must be supported by all of us. The demand are being censored. The resistance is being censored. As the United Fighting Forces, we have to stand in a place that breaks this censorship."