Turkish mayor stops hunger strike over Syria border wall

HAKKARİ

MAyor Ayşe Gökkan has ended a nine-day hunger strike. AA Photo

The mayor of southeastern Nusaybin town, Ayşe Gökkan, ended a nine-day hunger strike today held to protest the building of a controversial wall on the border with Syria, an official in her pro-Kurdish party said.

"Ayse Gökkan stopped the hunger strike today [Thursday]. We think the protest has reached its goal," the official from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) told.
 
The mayor, who had been staging her hunger strike in a border minefield since October 30, said the barrier was a "wall of shame" that would divide Kurdish people.

BDP stages protests against Syria border wall

Turkey’s Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) staged a protest in Hakkari’s Yüksekova province today to oppose the alleged building of a wall along the Turkey-Syrian border.

Groups also gathered at Yüksekova yesterday to show support for BDP deputy Ayşe Gökkan. The demonstration soon turned into clashes between protesters and the Turkish police.

Meanwhile, small groups marched in support of Gökkan in Şanlıurfa as well, according Doğan News Agency.

BDP deputies, including co-chair Gültan Kışanak, have been very outspoken about their views on the wall, calling on the government to halt the project.

Groups gathered both in Nusaybin and Qamishli, right across the Syrian border, since the hunger strike began to protest against the wall’s construction, which started nearly a month ago by the Turkish army to prevent illegal crossings and smugglers.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) spokesperson Haluk Koç has also criticized the construction of the wall, saying it would separate the Turkish and Syrian citizens of Kurdish origin who were living in both border towns.

Turkey had previously announced the construction of a 2.5-kilometer-long wall along the Cilvegözü border gate with Syria to prevent smuggling activity.