The hunger strike Shengal Diaspora Assembly started in Strasbourg, France demanding contact with Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan has reached its 21st day. Following the medical check-ups today, it has come to light that activist Bozo Bacini’s health is deteriorating.

The activists wrote to the European Union (EU), the European Parliament (EP) and other international institutions today and called for awareness. The activists protested the CPT for not fulfilling their duty.

The activists will move to meet with the EP Group Chairs and Foreign Relations Commissions. The visits will focus on Öcalan’s situation and Shengal’s status.

The hunger strike participants called for a strong attendance to the demonstration to be held in front of the EP on September 15.

Shengal Diaspora Assembly members also wrote a letter to be sent to the İmralı Island yesterday. Chairperson Fikret Igrek, Peşimam Ekrem Deniz, Bedirhan Kahraman, Bozo Bacini and Beşir Êzidî shared their feelings, ideas and opinions on the recent developments in the letter to be sent to Öcalan.

'THE ONLY GUARANTEE FOR ÊZIDÎS ARE ÖCALAN AND THE KURDISTAN STRUGGLE'

The activists reiterated that the Êzidîs could only say they were Êzidîs after the Kurdish Freedom Struggle started, and said: “It wasn’t possible before that. Because there was fear, they were disdained. Everything was achieved through you, your philosophy, ideology and perspectives. Now the Êzidîs have the one guarantee: You and the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle.”

'FREEDOM FIGHTERS STOPPED THE GENOCIDE WHILE KDP FLED'

The Shengal Diaspora Assembly administrators mentioned the massacre carried out by ISIS gangs in Shengal on August 3, 2014 that went down in history as “the 73rd Firman” and said the KDP abandoned the Êzidîs despite their large military presence in the region. The letter points out that thousands of Êzidîs were killed, countless Êzidî women and children were enslaved and sold because of this, and reiterates that hundreds of thousands of Êzidîs were saved from a great genocide by “a few hundred Freedom Fighters”.

INFORMATION SHARED ON SHENGAL’S STATUS AND SELF DEFENSE

The letter emphasized that Êzidîs were embraced all over Kurdistan after the massacre and stated that thousands of fighters in Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) and Shengal Women’s Resistance Units (YJŞ), formed after the Shengal Autonomous Assembly was declared on January 14, 2015, are fighting alongside the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle fighters today.

The letter also mentioned the Shengal Diaspora Assembly’s foundation goals and their efforts, and it underlined that these were to protect Shengal in the international arena and to get Shengal’s status as the residential areas of Êzidîs, together with YBŞ and YJŞ.

“WE HAVE ONE LEADER, AND IT’S YOU”

The letter expressed Öcalan’s philosophy and the perspectives he offered were taken as a base to this end, and said: “We are expanding the Êzidî lobby so there are no more firmans, and say that we have only one Leader: that Leader is you. You are the most important person in the world to us.”

The activists gave information on the indefinite-irreversible hunger strike they launched on August 23 as the Diaspora Assembly and said: “This strike will continue until death unless our demands are met.”

The letter also contained information on the two demands of the hunger strike, namely the lifting of the aggravated isolation imposed upon Öcalan and he be contacted immediately, and the legitimate recognition of Shengal’s status.

The activists ended their words with: “Today we are on the 20th day of the hunger strike. We express our loyalty to you once more. Your freedom is our freedom and Shengal’s freedom, it is the freedom of Kurdistan. For your freedom, we promise to stay loyal to you and carry on your philosophy.”