Crowe raises the issue of Kurdish hunger strikes in the Dáil

Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Diaspora, Seán Crowe TD, has raised the issue of increased discrimination against the Kurdish minority in Turkey and the on-going hunger strike by Kurdish prisoners in Turkish jails, in the Dáil today.

Speaking after the debate Deputy Crowe said:

“Discrimination against Turkey’s Kurdish community has been well documented. They have never been granted the same rights as ethnic Turks. However discrimination against the Kurdish community in Turkey has escalated in recent years.

“For over a year now the AKP government in Turkey has banned Kurdish rallies and implemented a policy of mass internment of Kurdish political activists, mayors, MPs, lawyers, journalists and human rights workers. Kurdish protesters who take to the streets to demand their human rights are being attacked with tear gas, water cannons, batons, and other weapons.

“The recent imprisonment of Kurdish journalists and more than 8,000 activists, politicians, lawyers and academics is part of a strategy by the Turkish Government to intimidate those who oppose the government’s line on the Kurdish question.

“At the moment there are over 700 Kurdish prisoners on hunger strike, in 7 Turkish jails. The hunger strikes started on 12 September with 65 prisoners, which means that 65 prisoners have been on hunger strike for 65 days. They face permanent damage to their health, if not death, in the upcoming days.

“The prisoners’ demands are reasonable and non-threatening, these include: the right to education and a legal defence in their native language of Kurdish; and the start of direct peace talks to resolve the outstanding conflict by peaceful and constitutional means. But yet the Turkish Government won’t enter serious dialogue with the prisoners and is placing the lives of over 700 people at risk.

“The Turkish government needs to open negotiations with these Kurdish prisoners immediately.”