Hunger Strikers Who have Died
Semra Basyigit
Died on 30th July 2002 after 367 days on hunger strike
Semra Basyigit was born on July 27, 1978 in Domanic, Kutahya Province. She went to Uludag University, studying in the medical documentation and secretarial faculty. She joined the revolutionary struggle in the middle of 1996. The 1996 Death Fast was one of the most influential events in this period. For a while she was an active correspondent for the periodical Kurtulus ("Liberation"). She was imprisoned on February 3, 1998 and was held for a time in prison. After her imprisonment she resumed the struggle. She evaluated her imprisonment as follows: "As long as the truth is being defended, some of us will be imprisoned. As it appears, it is now our turn. But it must be clear to everyone that they will silence us neither with imprisonment, nor torture, nor massacres. It is a glaringly obvious fact that there is no difference between being inside or outside prison. So there are people who are resisting, both inside the jails and outside them. People resisting for the sake of victory."
Unlike many of the resistance fighters, Semra Basyigit was not in prison in December 19-22, 2000, at the time of the massacre. When the resistance started, she was not in prison. But she knew, she saw, that the F-Types were not just destined for those who were in jail. Outside prison she had taken part in some solidarity actions and when in Bursa she went on hunger strike with a number of relatives and friends of prisoners. Among them was Hulya Simsek, who was to die in the Death Fast.
On January 6, 2001, 10 people were imprisoned, among them Semra Basyigit. From then on, Semra continued her struggle inside prison. She was a volunteer for the Death Fast and joined the 6th Death Fast Team in Kartal Special Prison.
She began the Death Fast on July 28, 2001. She died on July 30th after 367 days on hunger strike.
Okan Kulekci
Died on 23rd May 2002 after 240 days on hunger strike
Okan Kulekci lost his life on May 23rd, the 240th day of his death fast.
The TIKB (Union of Revolutionary Communists of Turkey) Trial prisoner Okan Kulekci, who started the Death Fast against isolation in Tekirdag F-Type Prison, lost his life in Sagmalcilar State Hospital on the 240th day.
Meryem Altun
Died on 1st April 2002 after 301 Days on Hunger Strike
DHKP-C Trial prisoner Meryem Altun has died and is the 90th martyr of the Death Fast in Turkey.
In the middle of March, Meryem was one of a number of prisoners removed to hospital for forcible medical intervention, according to the same source. However, far from "returning people to life", as the state claims to be doing with regard to the Death Fast, it is often the medical intervention which kills the prisoners, or else leaves them handicapped.
Meryem lived for a time in England before being arrested on returning to Turkey. She was in the women's wing of Umraniye Prison at the time of the December 19-22, 2000 prison crackdown in which 28 prisoners were killed, many of them in Umraniye. She was among those forcibly transported to the F-Type prisons. There she began to take part in the Death Fast.
Meryem Altun, 26, had been fasting for 301 days when she died on Monday 1st April.
Dogan Tokmak
Died on 15th March 2002 after 290 days on hunger strike
DHKP-C prisoner Dogan Tokmak was martyred this evening (March 15, 2002) at 2100.
Dogan Tokmak had been removed to Sisli Etfal Hospital in Istanbul two days previously for forcible medical intervention when his condition worsened. A member of the 5th Death Fast Team, Dogan Tokmak was imprisoned in Kandira F-Type prison.
Dogan Tokmak is the 88th martyr of the resistance which started on October 20, 2000.
He died after 290 days on hunger strike.
Yusuf Kutlu
Died on Saturday 9th March 2002 in Istanbul after refusing food for 279 days
Yusuf Kutlu is the 86th martyr and was from the 5th group. He died in a hospital in Ankara. He was born in 1973 in Hatay and was an ethnic Arab.
Yusuf was from DHKP-C and was arrested in 1994 and had served time in prisons in Malatya and Bartin. After the massacre on December 19th he was transferred to Sincan F-type prison.
He died at 16:45 on March 9th on the 505th day of the Death Fast.
Zeynel Karatas
Died on January 5th 2002
Zeynel Karatas is the 84th Martyr in the death fast resistance.
He was born in 1977 in Dersim. He died today at the Tekirdag F-type prison.
Zeynel Karatas was a member of TKP (ML) and was arrested in December 2000. He was of the fourth resistance team. He preferred to take part in 4th team of Death Fast volunteers rather than being released early. He preferred death for a dignified life.
He lost his life on January 5, 2002 at 00.30.
Ali Caymar
Died on 2nd January 2002 after 256 days on hunger strike
Ali Camyar, 32, died in hospital in the western city of Izmir on Wednesday after fasting for about nine months, the prisoners' solidarity group Ozgur Tayad said. The Turkish Association of Human Rights said Mr Camyar died from tuberculosis after starvation had weakened his immune system.
Ali Caymar of the TIKB - Revolutionary Communist League Of Turkey - is the 83rd Martyr of the revolutionary prisoners Death Fast struggle.
Camyar was jailed for 18 years in 1996 for membership of an outlawed group of revolutionary communists. He has been on Death Fast for 256 days. He was born in 1970 in the city of Ordu. he began his Death Fast action on May 11, 2001. He was imprisoned in 1996 in Izmir. He lived through the state security forces' attack in Bergama prison and transferred to Buca prison. Following the opening of Kiriklar F-type prison this time he was transferred to there together with other political prisoners. He was also subjected to torture but he continued to resist.
When his health was critically poor he was taken to Izmir State Hospital. He was also suffering from tuberculosis. By law he should be released because of his illness but this process was deliberately delayed for 5 weeks.
And he lost his life on January 2, 2002 and became the 83rd martyr of the resistance.
Ali Ekbar Baris
Died on 18th October after 170 days on hunger strike
Ali Ekbar Baris died on Thursday 18th October, in Izmit, becoming the 41st person to die in the 1 year long hunger strike.
Ali Ekbar Baris, a 30-year-old father of one, died in a hospital in Izmit, where he had been transferred from jail after his health deteriorated, a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Association (IHD) told AFP. He was jailed for membership of an extreme left underground group, was on the 170th day of his protest fast, she added.
Ayse Bastimur
Died on 28th September 2001 after 341 days on hunger strike
Ayse Bastimur died on Friday 28th Septmeber, in Ankara, becoming the 40th person to die in the eleven-month hunger strike by Turkish prisoners and their relatives opposing the new maximum-security isolation prisons .
Ayse began her hunger strike in Canakkale prison. She was later transferred to Kutahya prison. After being conditionally released she continued her Death Fast in Ankara, next to ?zlem Durakcan. They died within hours of each other.
At the funerals of Ayse and ?zlem Durakcan 100 persons were been arrested in Ankara. According to information received the police have captured and taken away the dead bodies of both women.
?zlem Durakcan
Died on 28th September 2001 after 74 days on hunger strike
?zlem Durakcan died on Friday 28th September, in Ankara, becoming the 39th hunger striker to die.
Ozlem was on a solidarity Death Fast action outside prison, in the resistance house in Ankara, as a member of TAYAD.
At the funerals of Ayse Bastimur and ?zlem 100 persons were arrested in Ankara. According to information received the police have captured and taken away the dead bodies of both women.
Ali Riza Demir
Died on 27th September 2001
Ali Riza Demir died on Thursday 27th September, becoming the 38th to die on the Turkish hunger strike.
Born in 1973 in Adiyaman, from a Kurdish background, he was arrested while studying at the University of Istanbul and charged with membership of the revolutionary group DHKP-C.
After the state attack on the prisons in December 2000 he was moved to the 'F-type' prison at Kandira and later to hospital, where he and other prisoners refused to be force fed.
He was released and continued his hunger strike in the death fast house in the Kucuk Armutlu shanty town in Istanbul.
Zeynep Arikan
Died on 27th September 2001 after 343 days on hunger strike
Zeynep was aged 33 and she is the 37th person to die in the protest against the isolation prisons in Turkey.
She was born in Malatya and studied in Istanbul, where she became involved in the movement to liberate Turkey. She was imprisoned in 1996 in Umraniye prison.
She was released from prison when her health situation was grave and continued her hunger strike in the Ku?uk Armutlu area of Istanbul with the TAYAD families. She died at 4.15 on the morning of 27th September, after 343 days on hunger strike.
Zeynep Arikan? husband, Kazim Gulbag, sacrificed his life abroad with an act of self-immolation outside a prison in Hamburg.
The funeral ceremony of Zeynep Arikan in the Gazi neighbourhood of Istanbul was attacked by special police forces and panzers and at least 20 persons have been arrested. Among them are two journalists from the weekly magazine Vatan.
Abdulbari Yusufoglu
Died on 20th September after 137 Days on Death Fast
Abdulbari Yusufoglu, 21, died before dawn on Thursday in a house in an Istanbul suburb where some 10 other left-wing militants are also on hunger strike.
Yusufoglu was a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, a banned Marxist group.
He died at the death fast house in the Armutlu shanty town in Istanbul and was buried in his home town of Izmir on 21st September.
Ibrahim Erler
Died on 18th September 2001
Hunger Striker Ibrahim Erler died on 18th September in hospital in Istanbul, where he had been transferred after setting himself on fire in Tekirdag F-type prison.
He did this in protest against the police attack on the Ku?uk Armutlu area in Istanbul.
Umus Sahingoz
Died on 14th September after 330 Days on hunger strike
32 year old Umus Sahingoz has became the 34th political prisoner to die on the Death Fast against the introduction of isolation prisons in Turkey.
A member of the banned Marxist group Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, she died in a house in an Istanbul suburb where about a dozen other left-wing militants are also fasting, the prisoner support group Ozgur Tayad said.
Sahingoz had served time at an Istanbul prison for breaching Turkey's anti-terrorism laws but was released in July.
Gulay Kavak
Died on 7th September after 68 Days on Death Fast
Gulay Kavak died on Friday 7th September at the Death Fast house in Ku?ukarmutl, Istanbul. Gulay is the 33rd Hunger Striker to die in the struggle against the isolation prisons.
Hulya Simsek
Died on 31st August after 286 Days on Death Fast
Hulya Simsek, whose incarcerated brother is also on hunger strike, died in a house in Istanbul after 285 days without food.
Hulya was born in Erzincan on 04-03 1963. She completed her primary and secondary education in Erzincan and then migrated to Istanbul. She completed her teacher training and became an embroidery teacher.
She met with revolutionaries after her brother Zeynel Abidin Simsek was arrested. She became active in TAYAD and became the editor of the TAYAD journal Tutuklu Aileleri.
When the Death Fast started she started her solidarity fast in Bursa. After the massacre on 19-22 December she was arrested and taken to Kartal F-type prison where she continued her fast. She was released after 25 days and on her release she went to the Armutlu district area of Istanbul to continue her fast with other TAYAD members and released prisoners.
On 31st August at 12:30 Huyla Simsek became immortal.
On Friday night the people of Armutlu had a torch-lit procession in her honour and her funeral took place on Saturday morning.
Osman Osmanagaoglu
Died on 14th August after 299 Days on Hunger Strike
Osman Osmanagaoglu, 44, died in Istanbul on the 299th day of his fast, two months after he was granted a six-month temporary release due to his deteriorating health.
Osman Osmanagaoglu was born in 1957 in Karabuk. He finished primary and secondary school in Karabuk. He attended high school in Umraniye. He met with revolutionary beliefs in 1975. He spent a combined total of 18 years in prison on different occasions.
He was last arrested and taken to Bayrampasa prison in 1991. He was put on trial and given the death penalty. He was then taken to Umraniye prison. He volunteered for the first team of Death Fast fighters.
After the December 19th Operation he was taken to Kandira F-type prison. He was taken to hospital and threatened with forcible medical intervention but he resisted. He continued his Death Fast without interruption. He was released from hospital as part of the state? trick.
After his release he continued his resistance in Kucuk Armutlu. He perished in a house in the Kucuk Armutlu district of Istanbul, where he had continued to fast with several other protestors.
The Death Fast is carrying on inside and outside of the prisons in the various cities of Turkey. The Death Fast has continued for almost one year. The resistance could not be stopped either by force, provocations, releases and torture or by making the captives disabled.
The resistance will continue until the demands are accepted
Muharrem Horoz
Died on 3rd August after 236 Days on Death Fast
Muharrem Horoz, 28, a member of the banned Turkish Workers Communist Liberation Army/Marxist-Leninist or TKP-ML TIKKO, died at Izmit hospital, in northwest Turkey.
Muharrem Horoz was born in 1967 in Sivas. He graduated from Trakya University Mechanical Engineering Department. He was detained on July 1999 on the grounds that he was a member of "illegal" organization TKP/ML TIKKO.
After being heavily tortured he was sent to Umraniye Prison where he began the death fast on December 10. He was sent to Kandira F-Type Prison after "Back to Life" Operation (prison massacre in December 2000) and had continued death fast together with other prisoners. He was taken to Izmit State Hospital ten days ago. It is reported that Horoz refused the forced medical treatment four times and he lost his life on 3rd August 2000
Sevgi Erdogan
SEVGI ERDOGAN from the DHKP-C has lost her life today (Saturday 14th July) at 15:00 on the 267th day of her Death Fast action.
She is a decades long revolutionary and she has proven once again that our beliefs and willpower can never be submitted, she did this by challenging death for 267 days and by becoming immortal.
Sevgi Erdogan was born in 1956 in Erzurum, North-East Turkey, and graduated from Istanbul University, department of economy. In 1974 she was married to Ibrahim ERDOGAN. Their daughter Sirvan was born in 1979. She was arrested in 1981 together with her husband and sent to Istanbul Metris prison.
Her husband Ibrahim Erdogan was massacred on July 12, 1991 together with his 11 comrades.
Sevgi Erdogan, was arrested once again in 1994 in Mersin. She was sentenced to 12 1/2 years imprisonment and stayed in Konya and Usak prison. There will be a funeral ceremony today at 21:00in Armutlu / Istanbul.
SEVGI ERDOGAN IS IMMORTAL!
HEROES DO NOT DIE, THE PEOPLE CANNOT BE DEFEATED!
LONG LIVE OUR DEATH FAST RESISTANCE
TAYAD FAMILIES
Ali Koc
Ali Koc died on Sunday 8th July in a hospital in Ankara, after refusing most nourishment for 251 days.
He is the 28th person to die in the protest against the swapping of dormitories for small cells.
Mr Koc was jailed while a student at Ankara University for being a member of an extreme left-wing group, which the Turkish authorities accuse of masterminding the strike.
"The condition of these people is irreversible, some have lost their memories. We expect more deaths," said Yavuz Onen, head of the foundation which is looking after the freed hunger strikers.
Mr Koc's death brings to 22 the number of inmates who starved themselves to death.
Five relatives of prisoners who joined the strike in solidarity and one former inmate have also perished in the protest since March when the first victim died.
Gokhan Ozocak
Died on 4th July after 204 Days on Hunger Strike
Gokhan Ozocak, 41, died on Wednesday 4th July, becoming the 27th person to die in the nine-month hunger strike by Turkish prisoners and their relatives to protest a new maximum-security prison system.
Gokhan Ozocak was one of the gravely ill prisoners released by the Turkish state earlier this month. Some hunger striking prisoners have been released so that the state can avoid blame for their deaths. If they end the hunger strike they will be returned to prison.
Gokhan died in a house in Izmir where the released prisoners are continuing their fast along with members of the relatives group TAYAD.
Zehra Kulaksiz
"Our prisoners are isolated and tortured. It may be hard for you to understand but that is why we have to die."
- Zehra Kulaksiz
The Resistance in Turkey's Prisons and outside the prisons continues. The Death Fast Resistance of TAYAD (Association of Families and Friends of Political Prisoners) members had given their fifth martyr outside the prisons. TAYAD member.
Zehra Kulaksiz fell martyr on 29th June at 1730 (GMT) on her 221st day of Death Fast action. She is the 57th Martyr of the Resistance.
Her younger sister, 19 years old Canan Kulalsiz fell on the 137th day of action.
ZEHRA KULAKSIZ IS IMMORTAL! LONG LIVE OUR DEATH FAST RESISTANCE! HEROES DO NOT DIE, THE PEOPLE CANNOT BE DEFEATED! WE WILL ACHIEVE VICTORY WITH OUR MARTYRS!
WE WILL WIN!
A link to an article about Zehra Kulaksiz during her hunger strike - Click Here
Aysun Bozdogan
Died on 26th June 2001 after 183 days on Hunger Strike
A female prisoner, Aysun Bozdogan, died on Tuesday 26th June, becoming the 25th person to die in an eight-month hunger strike by Turkish prisoners and their relatives to protest a new maximum-security prison system.
Aysun Bozdogan, 25, died at a hospital in Istanbul Bozdogan was a member of the outlawed Turkish Communist Party-Leninist, and had been in Istanbul's Kartal prison since 1999.
Aysun Bozdogan, was born in 1976 in Adana, Turkey. She died on 26.06.2001 after 183 Days on Death Fast.
LONG LIVE OUR PRISON RESISTANCE! THE REVOLUTIONARY PRISONERS ARE IMMORTAL! COMPADRE AYSUN LIVES IN OUR RESISTANCE! LONG LIVE OUR PARTY TKEP/L!
Veli Gunes
Died on 16th June 2001 after 240 days on Hunger Strike
Veli Gunes was born in 1956 in the village of Kocakoc Merkez in the Tunceli province. He was in the first team of Death Fast volunteers.
Following the operation of "Return to life" (Massacre in the Prisons) on December 19th Veli Gunes was taken from Umraniye prison to Kandira F-type prison.
He was transferred to the Izmit state hospital one and a half months ago for the purpose of forcible medical intervention. He resisted the intervention despite of the days-long torture and on the 240th day of his Death Fast he lost his life.
VELI GUNES DIED SO THAT PEOPLE CAN LIVE FREELY WITH THEIR OWN THOUGHTS.NEITHER YOUR TORTURE NOR YOUR THREATS WILL SUCCEED TO BREAK THE POWER OF THE RESISTANCE
from a tribute to Veli Gunes:
Veli G?nes fell martyr at midnight of June 16 in Kocaeli state hospital where the forcible medical intervention is taking place and which consequently has been turned into an abattoir.
He was the Uncle Veli of the Free Captives. Our comrade Veli was the oldest fighter of the death fast. He was in the first team of volunteers from Umraniye prison. A mountain, an oak has fallen. He has fallen over the murderous state and its partners and collaborators with a big bang.
The mobs of murderers who wear white shirts (doctors) and who were saying, let's wait till he has lost consciousness then we will sort him out wanted to intervene on many occasions. His arms and legs were bound with chains. He resisted with his gigantic heart and shrunken and starved body. The resistance is at the same time a war of willpowers.
Veli Gunes has won the war.
More details of martyred prisoners will be added to this section as information become available
