Thirteen PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) prisoners have started indefinite and irreversible hunger strike in Van F Type prison.

After 18 PKK inmates in Bingöl M Type Closed Prison escaped from the jail on 25 September, 17 were arrested in an expansive military operation while the whereabouts of the other one still remains unknown. 13 of the fugitives were transferred to Van F Type prison where they have reportedly been subjected to arbitrary practices and orders during and after their transfer to Van F Type prison.

Speaking about the protest of the fugitive prisoners, TUYAD-DER (Association of Solidarity with Prisoners' Relatives) Van Branch Chair Ahmet Aygün said that the fugitives were placed in cells away from those of political prisoners.

Aygün remarked that the prisoners have started the hunger strike to protest against the prison administration for not answering their demand to stay with other political prisoners. “We met the prison administrators and the chief prosecutor many times to convey the demands of prisoners. They promised to transfer the fugitives to the ward of other PKK prisoners but have taken no steps so far on the grounds of the ongoing renovation in the jail”, he explained and noted that the fugitives are also being supported by 20 other PKK prisoners in the jail who have also gone on an alternate hunger strike.