In the French city of Strasbourg, a hunger strike has been taking place since 17 December in protest at the isolation imposed on Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

Jurist and former rector of Hochschule Bremen, Ronald Mönch visited the 14 Kurdish activists on indefinite hunger strike and obtained information about their state of health.

Mönch spoke with Yüksel Koç, co-chair of the Kurdish umbrella organization KCDK-E, who welcomed him in his bed. The jurist expressed his wish that the demand of the hunger strikers is met before a loss of life occurs.

The German jurist recalled that he had had the opportunity to meet with Abdullah Öcalan while he was in Rome.

Mönch pointed to the importance Öcalan attaches to the security and powerfulness of the Kurds. Basing on Öcalan's earlier statements on the matter, he recalled that the Kurdish leader rejects self-sacrifice actions undertaken for his person.

The Kurdish question is not only a problem for Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, but also for Germany, said the jurist from Bremen.

Regarding the victory of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over the Islamist terrorist organization ISIS, Mönch said that Europe owe much to the Kurds, because ISIS is also a massive threat to the European states.