National March and Rally in Dublin
McAliskey calls for removal of Turkish envoy
Irish Times - September 10 2001 Hundreds march in Dublin support of Turkish Death Fast
An Phoblacht 12th Septmeber 2001 Turkish hunger strike rally in Dublin today
Irish Times - 8th September 2001
by Kitty Holland
A motion should be moved in the Dáil to have the Turkish ambassador removed from Ireland, a rally in Dublin was told at the weekend. Ms Bernadette McAliskey, republican campaigner and former MP, was addressing an estimated 700* people who marched on Saturday to highlight the plight of political prisoners and hunger-strikers in Turkey.
Some 1,200 have taken part in the hunger-strike in Turkey since it began in October, and 43 have died so far. They are protesting at the new F-type prisons first introduced in 1996.
The latest death was in a private home in Istanbul on Saturday morning. Ms Gulay Kavak (29) was one of about 40 people fasting outside prison in solidarity with those inside.
Ms McAliskey told the meeting outside the GPO: "The two political parties represented here today [Sinn Féin and the Green Party] have members in the Dáil. They must be harangued to propose a motion in the Dáil that the Turkish ambassador be removed from this country."
The Turkish hunger-strikers and their supporters say the F-type prisons, which replace the old dormitory-style accommodation and house political prisoners in cells for between one and three people, increase the risk of brutality.
Although condemned by Amnesty International, the Turkish government says they meet UN and EU minimum standards.
Mr Sinam Erson, a representative of the Turkish prisoners' solidarity group in England, Tayad, has been on hungerstrike in London for 25 days. He is fasting in solidarity with his brother, who is on hunger-strike in Kiriklar F-type prison in the Turkish city of Izmir.
He said the issues were not just about the prisons but freedom of thought. The majority of those on hunger-strike have radical left-wing views. Communism is illegal in Turkey.
Ms Deirdre de Burca of the Green Party called on people to boycott Turkey as a holiday destination.
Although the majority of banners and placards represented republican parties such as Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Socialist Party, a number of people carried pictures of some of those who have died on the Turkish hunger-strike.
* 700 marchers is a serious under estimate. Those attending the march and rally numbered twice this.
Text of IRSP statement by Micheal Óg Devine at the rally can be read here
By Roisin De Rosa
``Ireland is number one in solidarity. We thank you.'' - Gurkan Gur
The Turkish Hunger Strike claimed its 33rd victim on Friday 7 September, when Gulay Kavak died in Istanbul after 68 days on Hunger Strike. As the many hundreds of marchers from around the country who came to Dublin last Saturday to demonstrate their solidarity with the Turkish prisoners left the GPO, they heard that the young woman of 29 had died. Gulay Kavak was one of some 40 people who are fasting outside of the jail in solidarity with the prisoners on the death fast.
Saturday's march through the centre of Dublin was a powerful demonstration of solidarity with the hunger strikers in Turkey and their long fight against the F-Type cell prisons. ``This struggle, in which so many have died'' as Sinam Erson, representative of Tayad, the Turkish Prisoners' group in England, said ``is a voice against the fascist Turkish regime, where there is no civil right, no freedom to oppose this brutal regime. The hunger strikers are our hope. They are your hope.''
Sinam Erson himself has been on hunger strike for 25 days in solidarity with his brother, who is one of the hunger strikers in Turkey. ``My brother was captured in 1997 and sentenced to 15 years. There was no defence. Like other prisoners in Turkey he was tortured. The F-Type cells are about forcing the prisoners to give up their beliefs. The prisoners would rather die. We will win or we will die. In Turkey there is no other way.''
There was a large crowd on Saturday, many of whom came from Belfast, and many from the former prisoner groups. They came in memory also of the H-Block hunger strike with which there are so many parallels. Michael Óg Devine, young son of H-Block hunger striker, Mickey Devine, spoke of how it is the same fight that goes on today in Turkey as 20 years ago in the H Blocks, and, as Sinn Féin Councillor Dessie Ellis, who himself went through a long hunger strike when fighting extradition to England, said in his speech, the state's response is also the same.
Councillor Deirdre de Búrca (Green Party) from Wicklow spoke of the political conditions in Turkey, the absence of civil rights, the banning of all opposition to the regime. ``Their application to join the EU should not be entertained, whilst there is so little respect for human rights.''
Maura McCrory and Bernadette McAliskey, who Bernadette described as a ``bad pair of women,'' who together had chaired and spoken at so many H Block meetings two decades ago, also shared this platform.
Gurkan Gur, representing Turkish hunger strikers, spoke of the 15 death houses near Istanbul, in which seven people have already died. ``The locality where the death houses are is surrounded by the military. You are not allowed even to bring flowers there. People are not allowed to go there.'' All publications that talk of the death fast have been banned, their offices trashed, their people arrested and imprisoned.
Gurkan thanked the people for their support, ``The response of the Irish people in Europe is number one at the moment, the work of the groups in Dublin, Belfast, Derry. We thank you, and we salute all those who have died in Turkey and the H Blocks.''
by Eithne Donnellan
A March and rally will take place in Dublin today to highlight the plight of political prisoners on hunger strike in Turkey. The protest, which began last October, has claimed 42 lives.
Up to 1,200 political prisoners have been on hunger strike, protesting in particular at the "F-type" isolation cells introduced by the Turkish government in 1996.
The F-cells were introduced for the imprisonment of people accused and convicted of political or terrorist offences. They have been condemned by Amnesty International and have been the subject of two visits by the Council of Europe's Commission on the Prevention of Torture.
The march begins at the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, Dublin, at 2.30 p.m. and will proceed to the GPO on O'Connell Street, where a rally will take place at about 3 p.m. Speakers will include former hunger striker Mr Dessie Ellis and Ms Mary Doyle, a former republican prisoner who went on hunger strike in Armagh jail.
Other speakers will include Ms Bernadette McAliskey, Mr Michael ?Devine, son of 1981 hunger striker Mickey Devine, Green Party TD Mr Trevor Sargent and Ms Mags Glennon, chairwoman of the Solidarity with Hunger Strikers in Turkey organisation.