TUAYDER: We won't stop our work because of repression

TUAYDER Mersin Branch, which has become a target for its solidarity with families and prisoners during the hunger strike resistance, vowed to continue its work despite the repression.

Solidarity Association with Prisoners Mersin Branch has been facing pressure for weeks.

Almost all the executives of the association have been arrested, during the years, for the work of the association which has been close to families of prisoners and has helped them to expose the violations carried out in prisons.

In particular, during the hunger strike resistance launched to break the isolation against Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, the association has been repeatedly subjected to oppression. Recently, many documents belonging to the association, flags and computers were confiscated as a result of police raids carried out in the Mersin branch.

The arrest of the association's co-chair and many executives and the confiscation of the belongings of the association without any reason were countered by both the prisoner' families and the executives of the association.

Ali Bilen, one of the directors of the Association, said: "Those who think that they can prevent us from doing our work with families and prisoners in this way should know that they are wrong. We have never taken a step back because of the repression we have been subjected to."

Bilen said that the majority of those who are members of the Association are relatives of prisoners and that they have a natural bond with the association. "As long as the arrests continue, we will continue to work with new members. If the association is closed, our struggle will continue with a new association."

As to the latest police raids, Bilen said:  “We have fulfilled what has been included in our statute since the foundation of our association. If we have committed a crime stemming from the fact that we act in accordance with the statute, then those who approve the statute are partners in this crime. Proceedings must be made accordingly. Among the material seized in the association, are the letters from the prisoners, the magazine Democratic Modernity, and even a picture of HDP Hakkari MP Leyla Güven published in Yeni Yaşam Newspaper. All these items were used as evidence against us."

Bilen added that they will enter a new congress process in order to strengthen the Association. This, Bilen said, would mean that work will be more organized and planned.