"Based on the strength we get from our martyrs who set their bodies on fire to protest the crackdown in Turkey’s prisons, we hit the enemy forces and draw the attention of the whole world to the brutal policies of isolation and destruction in prisons!"
The Mehmet Akar Militia of the People's United Revolutionary Movement (HBDH) carried out a sabotage action against an armoured police vehicle patrolling on the Batman Road route in Amed (Diyarbakir).
In a written statement on Thursday, HBDH’s Mehmet Akar Militia said: “The fascist Turkish state is pursuing a brutal policy of isolation and oppression against all revolutionary prisoners, in particular Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. An unprecedented isolation and destruction has been going on for a quarter-century in the İmralı prison.”
The statement added:
“Our militias are stepping up their actions against this brutal attack of isolation and destruction. Based on the strength we get from our martyrs who set their bodies on fire to protest the crackdown in Turkey’s prisons, we hit the enemy forces and draw the attention of the whole world to the brutal policies of isolation and destruction in prisons!
With this awareness and determination in mind, we carried out a sabotage action against the fascist enemy in Amed on January 17, targeting an armoured police vehicle patrolling the Batman Road in the Yeniköy neighbourhood of Amed. Policemen ended up in a huge panic as a result of the sabotage action, after which our militia successfully left the scene.
We will eliminate the isolation, destruction and the brutal crackdown on revolutionary prisoners!”
Self-immolation action of Mehmet Akar
On Monday evening, a young man set his body on fire in the central Sur district of Amed (Diyarbakır). The young man, identified as Mehmet Akar, succumbed to severe burns in hospital on Tuesday. In his suicide note, he makes it clear that he set himself on fire in protest against Öcalan's isolation on Imrali.
Akar’s farewell letter reads: “There is no news of Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan]. Neither his family nor his lawyers are allowed to see him. The applications are rejected without justification. We are concerned about the health condition of Leader Apo. In protest, I will set my body on fire at 21:21 in Amed’s Keçi Burcu (Goat Bastion). May the light of the fire that ignites my body illuminate Imralı. I hope that this action will lead to the physical freedom of Leader Apo.”
The self-immolation of Mehmet Akar was preceded by the action of Veysi (Bubo) Taş in Mardin. On 12 January 2023, 65-year-old Veysi (Bubo) Taş burned himself to death in the industrial area of the central district of Artuklu in the province of Mardin in protest against the total isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. After unsuccessful treatment in hospital, Taş lost his life.
