BDP deputies start hunger strike

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

BDP co-chair Gültan Kışanak (L) says she is calling on the Turkish government to start a dialogue and negotiation process immediately to solve the Kurdish issue. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) lawmakers began yesterday a two-day hunger strike at the party headquarters in solidarity with jailed colleagues fasting in prison to protest the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) probe and government policies on the Kurdish issue.

“I’m calling on the government to lend an ear to this outcry. Give up the policy of conflict and start dialogue and negotiation process immediately,” BDP co-chair Gültan Kışanak said.

Five of the BDP-backed 34 deputies remain in prison, from where they were elected to Parliament last year. Two of them, Selma Irmak and Faysal Sarıyıldız, launched an indefinite hunger strike Feb. 15 along with at least 60 inmates in various prisons. Recalling that over 6,000 people have been detained as part of the KCK probe, Kışanak said: “Because of such policies, the conflict is flaring up and deaths are increasing. The isolation of [jailed PKK leader Abdullah] Öcalan, an important actor in resolving the Kurdish issue, throws the solution process into further jeopardy.”

She urged Parliament to step in to solve the Kurdish issue. “Parliament cannot sit back and watch this problem as its members go on hunger strike,” she said.