Geneva councillor expressed solidarity with hunger strikers

“I hereby express my solidarity with the hunger strike activists and want them to know that we stand beside them. Solidarity must be spread further.”

Christina Kitsos, member of the Council of Socialist Party of the City of Geneva, spoke to ANF about the ongoing hunger strikes.

Led by DTK co-chair and HDP Hakkari MP Leyla Güven, hunger strikes are being carried out in many cities and prisons, demanding the end of the isolation of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

Kitsos, who reminded the basic human rights clauses that all countries have to comply with and protect, said: “Today we don’t see respect for the fundamental rights in Turkey. The unlawful practices of the Turkish state increased particularly after the failed coup attempt. The unlawful arrest of many people, especially Kurdish politicians, has shocked the international community, especially in Geneva, the center of human rights. The most striking point in this process was the Turkish state’s attacks on the fundamental values ​​of democracy and especially minority and human rights defenders in Turkey."

Solidarity with Kurds

Kitsos saluted the ongoing hunger strike resistance led by Leyla Güven “against the unlawful practices of the Turkish state. I hereby express my solidarity with the hunger strike activists and want them to know that we stand beside them. Solidarity must be spread further.”

Turkey must adhere to the Geneva Convention

Kitsos underlined that it is the international community responsibility to respond with action to Leyla Güven’s demands. “Turkey is a signatory of the Geneva Conventions and therefore must comply with them. The demands of the activists should be brought to the Turkish state by a movement to be created in all countries.”

Reminding the isolation imposed on Öcalan, Kitsos said: “Öcalan has been kept in very severe and bad conditions for the last three years. No one should be deprived of basic human rights. When universal human rights are respected, and these laws are applied, many existing problems will be solved. Again, I think that the CPT and other institutions and organizations should fulfill their duties on this. The conditions in which Öcalan and other political prisoners are kept should change.”

Who is Christina Kitsos?

Kitsos, who has been a politician in the Swiss Socialist Party for many years, is well-known to migrants living in Geneva.

Kitsos, who is a member of the Assembly of Geneva, works in close cooperation with the Kurdish people.

She has moved motion to raise awareness on the HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ in the Geneva Canton and has demanded the Canton government to take action.