In a press conference following the visit to prisoners on hunger strike in Sincan prison in Ankara, Turkish minister of Justice Sadullah Ergin asked prisoners to end their fast, saying that government authorities are listening to the voice of the hunger strikers and are working on their demands.

Minister Ergin noted that around 680 prisoners are joining the hunger strike at present and added that relevant authorities have taken all kinds of necessary precautions to avoid any unfavorable consequences of the fast.

Remarking that the demands of prisoners aren’t related with prison conditions, Ergin said that their party, the AKP, has recently started dealing with the issue of recognition of the right to self-defense in court in mother language and that this should be achieved by the year 2023.

“As we are preparing to bring our work to the attention of the Council of Ministers, I am calling on the prisoners to end their action for they have achieved to make themselves heard as they had intended”, the Minister added.