Report on Day 35 of the Seven Sisters hunger strike concentrates on yesterday's rally at the hunger strike tent, which attracted some mainstream media attention.
(Reposting - an earlier attempt to post this today did not succeed)
35TH DAY OF SEVEN SISTERS HUNGER STRIKE - JANUARY 25, 2004
The protest rally at Seven Sisters took place yesterday afternoon, January 24th, the 34th day of the hunger strike there. First of all, placards bearing the pictures of those who have died in the prison protest in Turkey opposing isolation imprisonment were attached to a long cord which was then strung from one lamp-post to another, forming a kind of banner. Then Ayfer Yildiz, one of the three people on 45-day hunger strike, read out a press statement in English in which she described the reasons for the protest. It touched on the December 2000 prison massacre in Turkey and the ongoing hunger strike and related protests in which a total of 107 people have lost their lives. The statement said, "The political prisoners have sacrificed a great deal so far for their demands, and they have resolved to make further sacrifices." The statement also called on Europeans to criticise their governments' support for the repression practised by the Turkish government. Ibrahim Yalcin, another of the 45-day hunger strikers, read out a shorter statement along the same lines in Turkish.
Well-wishers who were not from Turkey or Kurdistan added a few words of support. Then the rally ended with the dancing of a halay (a kind of round dance popular in Turkey) and the playing of some folk music. The turnout was 65-70 people, not counting the media.
Some representatives of the media attended - a cameraman and reporter from ITV London Tonight, a reporter from the Press Association, a freelance photographer, a reporter from an alternative radio station called Resonance Radio and a representative of the London Turkish-language press. London Tonight reported the protest in its bulletin later the same day. The Press Association reporter was given an interview, as was the reporter from Resonance Radio. Ayfer did a short interview to camera for London Tonight.
The hunger strike is continuing and will end on the 45th day, February 4.
35TH DAY OF SEVEN SISTERS HUNGER STRIKE - JANUARY 25, 2004
The protest rally at Seven Sisters took place yesterday afternoon, January 24th, the 34th day of the hunger strike there. First of all, placards bearing the pictures of those who have died in the prison protest in Turkey opposing isolation imprisonment were attached to a long cord which was then strung from one lamp-post to another, forming a kind of banner. Then Ayfer Yildiz, one of the three people on 45-day hunger strike, read out a press statement in English in which she described the reasons for the protest. It touched on the December 2000 prison massacre in Turkey and the ongoing hunger strike and related protests in which a total of 107 people have lost their lives. The statement said, "The political prisoners have sacrificed a great deal so far for their demands, and they have resolved to make further sacrifices." The statement also called on Europeans to criticise their governments' support for the repression practised by the Turkish government. Ibrahim Yalcin, another of the 45-day hunger strikers, read out a shorter statement along the same lines in Turkish.
Well-wishers who were not from Turkey or Kurdistan added a few words of support. Then the rally ended with the dancing of a halay (a kind of round dance popular in Turkey) and the playing of some folk music. The turnout was 65-70 people, not counting the media.
Some representatives of the media attended - a cameraman and reporter from ITV London Tonight, a reporter from the Press Association, a freelance photographer, a reporter from an alternative radio station called Resonance Radio and a representative of the London Turkish-language press. London Tonight reported the protest in its bulletin later the same day. The Press Association reporter was given an interview, as was the reporter from Resonance Radio. Ayfer did a short interview to camera for London Tonight.
The hunger strike is continuing and will end on the 45th day, February 4.
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