IRSP Ard Comhairle members meet with Turkish Hunger Strikers

18 September 2001

Two members of the Ard Comhairle (National Executive) of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, in Turkey as part of an IRSP delegation seeking to serve as witnesses for the death fasters there and do whatever is in their power to win the reforms that would enable the hunger strike to end.

Terry h Earcain and Pol Little evaded detection by Turkish authorities and were able to slip into the home of one of the hunger strikers, meeting with the protestors in one faster's own bedroom.

Terry h Earcain, British Coordinator for the IRSP and one of the heads of the party's international department, said of the situation he and his comrades found upon arrival:

"There is a state of siege here. We had to sneak in and if caught by the state, we will get thrown out."

Still, he went on to say, "The death fasters are in good spirits, despite the recent death and the attacks by the state on the hunger strikers and their supporters."

Thirty-three lives have been lost by political prisoners and their comrades demonstrating against the forced implementation of the so called "F-type prison."

The spokesperson concluded by saying that:
"The Turkish government is clearly engaged in a war against its own people. Given the history of the region, the near genocidal assault on the Armenians, the continued onslaught against the Kurds, and these present attacks on Anatolian political prisoners and revolutionaries from a number of organisations within the Turkish Left, it is small wonder that the Death Faster find themselves under a state of siege as well.

"But despite what set-backs have been encountered, the Death Fasters remain committed to their protest, a symbol and a great revolutionary principle. We horse-back riders assist in giving the hunger strikers mobility and by visiting them, we bring hope."

The IRSP remain committed to doing all in our power to assist our Turkish sisters and brothers win their demands and once again assert our deep solidarity with the Death Fasters and their comrades.

ENDS