Ógra encourages dialogue between Government and Hunger Strikers in Turkey
It is with great sadness that Ógra Shinn Féin learned of the death of a second Turkish Hunger Striker during the month of April. Mustafa Koçak’s death on 24 April follows the death of musician Helin Bölek on 3 April. Ógra Shinn Féin now believes there is an onus on the Turkish government to try to avoid any further loss of life.
The Turkish government under Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lurched increasingly towards authoritarianism and severely curtailed the civil liberties and human rights of both Turkish and Kurdish citizens. This, along with Turkey’s increasingly brutal suppression of the Kurdish national movement and its involvement in the war in Syria deserve the outright condemnation of the international community. Ógra Shinn Féin stands in solidarity with the Turkish and Kurdish political prisoners fighting against this regime.
The imprisonment of Bölek relates to the suppression of her folk music band Grup Yorum by Turkish authorities for playing songs with political lyrics. The group has been banned from playing since 2016 and band members have been arrested, jailed and tortured over the past number of years. Both Bölek and Koçak began their hunger strikes to demand the right to a fair trial.
Ógra Shinn Féin therefore calls on the Turkish government to engage in good faith with the remaining hunger strikers in the hope of saving their lives. There must also be an end to the suppression of anti-governmental artistic expressions. Ógra Shinn Féin will continue to work with our comrades across Europe and Turkey to ensure that more awareness is raised about events in Turkey and that a satisfactory situation can eventually be achieved.
le Ciarán Ó Meachair, Oifigeach Idirnáisiúnta agus Conor Dowling-Linehan, Ball an Fhocoiste Idirnáisiúnta