Letter from Demirtaş to EP and PACE

2019-02-19 14:58:54


	ANKARA- People's Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş said: " I wholeheartedly believe that you will be supporting by all means to ensure that these legitimate demands are met as soon as possible in order to end the hunger strikes" in a letter he wrote to EP and PACE about Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-chair and HDP Hakkari Deputy Leyla Güven who is on a hunger strike for 104 days.

	The letter is as follows:

	 

	"My dear parliamentarian friend,

	 

	 I want to convey a brief note about a very critical and incendiary situation we are experiencing in Turkey.

	 

	My parliamentarian friend,a member of Turkey's parliament, Leyla Güven is on a hunger strike for 104 days as of today. Approximately 320 political prisoners are on a hunger strike with her as well.

	 

	The only demand of my friends whose hunger strike is in a near-death threshold is the immediate termination of the isolation imposed on Mr. Abdullah Öcalan in order to secure the superiority of law , peace and dialogue.

	 

	This justified, legal and legitimate demand,  is a  realistic demand that can offer concrete contributions to peace and stability both in Turkey, Syria and Europe directly.

	 

	While my friends are closing in on the threshold of death day by day, government's ignoring this important issue increases the gravity and seriousness of the situation.

	 

	I believe you will hear the cry of the hundreds of people on hunger strike who risk death for peace and democracy and millions supporting them. I wholeheartedly believe that you will be supported by all the means to ensure that such legitimate demands are met as soon as possible to create public opinion and to end the hunger strikes.

	 

	Thanks to this letter I sent you through my lawyers and my party, I send you my warm greetings and love from the prison where I live, and I hope to meet you on better days."