The vigil for the hunger striking lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal continued in Istanbul. Today's action in front of the Sadi Konuk Hospital in Bakirköy district was joined by artists Pınar Aydınlar, Ayla Yılmaz, Serhad Raşa, Abbas Şahin, Avni Sağlam and the group Isyan Ateşi (Fire of Rebellion).

The participants carried photos of Timtik and Ünsal and a banner with the inscription "Establish justice, let Ebru and Aytaç live!”

Musician Pınar Aydınlar said in a speech: "We are here today because we do not want to lose two more people. We are all witnesses of the honourable resistance of Ebru and Aytaç. As revolutionary artists successor of Yılmaz Güney, we declare that we do not bow to anyone. Where our hope is exhausted, our obstinacy sets in. And this is exactly what Ebru and Aytaç do. They fight against injustice and for a fair trial. Their resistance is also directed against the injustice done to Selahattin Demirtaş. They resist for the miners of Soma, against the oppression of the working class and for the mother who has been fighting for days in Kurdistan for her daughter who was raped by a sergeant.”

The demand of the hunger strikers is justified and achievable, said Pınar Aydınlar. The musician recalled the struggle of Grup Yorum members Ibrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek, who died on death fast against their ban on performing. "We are not the artists of the palaces and the ruling class. We are part of the struggle of the people's lawyers, the labourers, the hunger-striking prisoners. We don't want death, we belong to those who fight for life to death. It is up to all of us to give a voice to Ebru and Aytaç", said Pınar Aydınlar.

The vigil ended with the song "Bella Ciao".

Hunger strike for justice

Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal have been on hunger strike for months and are not released from prison despite being declared unfit for imprisonment by the Forensic Medicine Institute. A complaint to the Turkish Constitutional Court in Ankara was also unsuccessful. The two lawyers, who are currently under observation against their will in various hospitals in Istanbul, remain in custody.

Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal are lawyers of the left-wing association "People's Legal Office" (Halkın Hukuk Bürosu) and went on hunger strike together with other imprisoned colleagues in February, which they turned into a "death fast" on April 5th - the "Day of Lawyers". In the complex of proceedings against alleged members of the DHKP-C, the lawyers were sentenced to long prison sentences according to terrorist laws due to contradictory statements of a key witness. With their action they demand a fair trial.