Seven members of the Ishtar Women’s Council in Şehîd Rustem Cûdî (Maxmur) Refugee Camp are on day 8 of hunger strike in front of the UN’s office in Hewler (Erbil).

The women urged the UN to shoulder their responsibilities and do all they can to remove the isolation of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Ocalan in Imrali Prison.

Leyla Arzu, one of the activists on hunger strike spoke to the ANF, and said: “The Turkish state has imposed a heavy isolation upon the Kurdish People’s Leader. The isolation is not against Ocalan alone, but it affects all the Kurdish people as a whole. We consider the isolation as an attack on ourselves, our homeland and our freedom. Therefore, to remove Ocalan’s isolation is to defend the homeland.”

Leyla Arzu highlighted the reason behind their action in front of the UN office in Hewler, and said: “The UN and all humanitarian organizations must carry out their duties. They must support those who are on hunger strike to demand the removal of Ocalan’s isolation.”

Another hunger strike activist Nuran Sezgin pointed out to the KDP’s stand against the hunger strikers, and said: “We had set up a tent for ourselves here, yet on the second day of hunger strike, the Asayish forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) attacked and removed the tent. The Turkish state has occupied our homeland, our children are dying in Sheladize but the KDP has not reacted to those incidents. Yet at late hours of night, they attack seven Kurdish women who are on hunger strike to demand the end of Ocalan’s isolation.

Zîwer Gerdî, a Kurdish citizen from the city of Hewler visited the hunger strikers, said: “The demands of these women, are the demands of all Kurdish people; the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan is equal to the isolation of all freedom-loving people.”

Member of the Freedom Movement Council – Kurdish Community in Hewler, Sazman Mihemed expressed his solidarity for the female activists on hunger strike, and called on the United Nations office in Hewler to break their silence about Turkish state’s oppression against Ocalan and the Kurdish people.