In an interview to ANF about the hunger strike by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Women’s Liberation Party (PAJK) prisoners in Turkey prisons, musician and human rights defender Þanar Yurdatapan criticized Prime Minister Erdoðan’s approach towards the protest and remarked that the AKP government is maintaining the state’s sadly well-known approach towards prisoners on hunger strikes.

Reminding of former government authorities who claimed that prisoners on hunger strike in previous protests were secretly eating meals, Yurdatapan pointed out that the PM is today doing nothing but showing the same attitude towards the prisoners’ protest. Yurdatapan underlined that the current problem concerning prisoners wouldn’t have appeared if Erdoðan had so far taken concrete steps to prevent the occurrence of the same situation again.

Calling attention to Kurdish prisoners determination to continue their action, Yurdatapan underlined that their demands are legitimate and added “Nobody will risk his life unless he has no other choice. In their action we see the manifestation of a determined conscience and an idea. They demand the practice of the rights that people should naturally have”.

The denial of the self-defense in Kurdish today is no different from the trial of author Aziz Nesin for his book ‘Turks in Bulgaria, Kurds in Turkey’ which was published in a time when the word ‘Kurdish’ was forbidden, he noted.

Musician Yurdatapan called on the AKP government to urgently meet the demands of prisoners to make sure that the ongoing hunger strike ends. He added that the AKP government should give an end to its political attitude on denying Kurdish leader Öcalan meeting with his family and lawyers.

Yurdatapan suggested that a general amnesty should be granted in a way to include Öcalan as the first step to end the war and the Kurdish problem. “I see this problem as a Turkish issue now because it is us- referring to Turks- who create the problem”, he added.