Young man who set his body on fire to protest isolation laid to rest
Mehmet Akar, who died after setting his body on fire to protest the isolation imposed on Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan in Sur, was buried on Tuesday evening.
Mehmet Akar set his body on fire to protest the isolation imposed on Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan in the borough of Sur, in Amed. The young man passed away in Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital, as a result of his injuries, and was buried in the village of Axmeşat (Soğanlı) after the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) procedures.
Before the funeral, the village was besieged by the gendarmerie.
Akar left a letter before his action. The letter said: "Hello friends. I would like to welcome the action of Comrade Bubo. 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."
