IZMIR - ESP executives, who went on a 3-day hunger strike for the freedom of PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan, said: "The person who will bring peace is Ocalan" and saluted the "Great Freedom March".

 

The isolation imposed by the AKP-MHP government on PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is held on Imralı Island, returns as war to the Kurds and poverty and oppression to the people of Turkey. Objections to this isolation are rising in many parts of the world, including Kurdistan and Turkey.

 

Following the rotating hunger strike launched by political prisoners in prisons on November 27 and the Justice Watch carried out by the relatives of prisoners outside, the 'Great March for Freedom' organized by two branches, Qars and Wan, under the leadership of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) started on February 1. Ocalan's freedom is demanded.

 

The left and socialist institutions that are in solidarity with the Kurds also support this demand, which those who take part in this march continue to shout in every city and district they reach.

 

Following the hunger strikes in Istanbul and Ankara, the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) went on a 3-day hunger strike in Izmir between January 31 and February 2.

 

NON-SOLVED KURDISH ISSUE

 

ESP Central Executive Board (MYK) Member Murat Cepni said: "There has been an absolute lack of communication in Imralı for 3 years. The Kurdish issue itself remains the dominant issue of all issues."

 

Cepni said that if the Kurdish issue cannot be solved, it is not possible to get rid of the many issues and added: “The place where fascism is fed is the insolubility of the Kurdish issue, and isolation is a fundamental issue here. We are talking about a leader whom the Kurds have identified as their only interlocutor. Holding him in isolation means the continuation of war policies."

 

'THE FREEDOM MARCH MUST BE APPROVED'

 

Murat Cepni emphasized that in order to put an end to the war policy, the Kurdish people's national freedom struggle and the socialists' labor and freedom struggle must be united.

 

Cepni said: "In this sense, the Freedom March launched by Kurdish political institutions on February 1 must be embraced and spread. Undoubtedly, this is not the last stage of the struggle. The duty of each of us in this regard is to spread these demands to all the people of Turkey and bring them to the agenda of the working class. Prisons can only accommodate Kurds and it is not an issue that concerns revolutionaries. We went on a hunger strike for 3 days of solidarity. This will not be the last. We salute the struggle of our friends who started the march and call on all democratic forces to embrace this struggle."

 

'THE PERSON WHO WILL BRING PEACE IS OCALAN'

 

ESP Izmir Provincial Organization Manager Hızır Ali Kılıc, one of the names who went on a 3-day hunger strike, also pointed out the hunger strike that has been going on for 69 days in prisons.

 

Kılıc said: "This resistance started against the throwing of sick prisoners into solitary cells, not meeting their basic needs, and most importantly, the isolation imposed on Leader of the Kurds Abdullah Ocalan. The person who will end the issues of the Kurds and bring peace is Ocalan. There is a Freedom March launched from two branches in Kurdistan. As ESP, we salute this march that has been initiated and call for struggle to grow solidarity."