The 14 Kurdish activists on hunger strike in Strasbourg demanding the end of isolation against Abdullah Öcalan have reached day 82 of their fast.

The activists have gone on hunger strike joining the resistance led by HDP Hakkari MP and DTK Co-chair Leyla Güven whose fast has left 121 days behind.

Despite the deterioration of their health the 14 activists continue their fast determined to end isolation and end the AKP-MHP fascism.

Among the hunger strikers are former HDP deputy Dilek Öcalan and politician Mustafa Sarıkaya.

People are coming from all parts of Europe to visit the hunger strikers and express their solidarity.

HDP Muş MP Mensur Işık and illegally expelled co-chair of Amed Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, Fırat Anlı, were among the visitors on 8 March, as was Ali Şimşek, the former provincial chairman of DBP Amed.

Speaking on behalf of the hunger strikers, KCDK-E co-chair Yüksel Koc welcomed the delegation and underlined the meaning and importance of the resistance against isolation.

Mensur Işık: This resistance will win

Işık pointed out the role of the hunger strike throughout the history of the Kurdish Freedom Struggle.

Leyla Güven, Nasır Yağız and the activists in Strasbourg, are among the hundreds of activists who joined this resistance.

Mensur Işık, who referred to the victory in Amed prison in 1982, stressed that “we believe that these hunger strike will also achieve victory and reach its goal”.

Işık underlined that “the isolation against Öcalan, is also aimed at humanity as well as the peace and brotherhood of the peoples. When this isolation ends, the Kurdish people will have reached their goal; they will have an honorable peace. We believe that our friends and all Kurdish people will achieve their purpose.”

Koç: We need to spread the resistance further

Hunger striker Yüksel Koç thanked Işık, Anlı and Şimşek, and underlined that the massacres on the Kurdish people and the source of the crime against democracy indeed are linked to the isolation of the Kurdish People's Leader.

Emphasizing the need for a total resistance against isolation, Koç said: “A great resistance is needed everywhere. The hunger strike resistance in all areas, especially in prisons, has affected both Kurdistan and the world. Resistance has spread all around.”

One side of the resistance, said Koç, “is also represented by the struggle against fascism on 31 March local election. It is important to claim back all municipalities which have been illegally usurped by the AKP.”

The 14 Kurdish activists who have gone on hunger strike in Strasbourg on 17 December 2018 are: Dilek Öcalan, Gülistan Çiya İke, Nurgül Başaran, Mustafa Sarıkaya, Mehmet Nimet Sevim, Ayvaz Ece, Ekrem Yapıcı, Agit Ural, Kardo Bokani, Mohammad Ghaderi, Yüksel Koç, Kerem Solhan, Ramazan İmir and Deniz Sürgüt.