Turkish police detain 47 demonstrators protesting hunger-striking educators’ imprisonment

ANKARA

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Turkish police detained 47 protesters demonstrating in support of two hunger-striking educators jailed in May in the capital Ankara on July 23.

Police used pepper spray and water cannons on the protesters after they gathered at the Ziya Gökalp Avenue in Kızılay Square in central Ankara. The group tried to march toward Güvenpark in the afternoon, but their initiation was stopped by the police. Some protesters were dragged away and detained, but others returned shortly afterwards, trying to continue their protest.

One of the protestors, Zeynel Danacı, who came from Istanbul for the demonstration, told daily Hürriyet that he had his arm broken as he resisted against being detained.

Literature professor Nuriye Gülmen, 35, and primary school teacher Semih Özakça, 28, had begun their hunger strikes after losing their jobs with state of emergency decrees.  

They were arrested on terror charges late on May 23, the 75th day of their hunger strike. They have been continuing their hunger strikes in jail, but their health situations are reported to be deteriorating severely, with doctors saying that they are at risk of death at any time.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu previously claimed that Gülmen and Özakça had “organic ties” with the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party - Front (DHKP-C).