The rotating hunger strike action initiated by political prisoners in prisons to demand the freedom of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and the democratic solution to the Kurdish issue is on its 16th day. "Justice sit-in" actions were launched in Wan(Van) Amed(Diyarbakır), Adana and Mersin by the associations established by the families of the prisoners to give voice to the prisoners who have been on hunger strike since November 27.

 

The families of the prisoners who take part in these ongoing sit-ins and the institutions that support them are trying to make their voices heard by the government and the opposition, as well as the whole society, in order for the demands of the prisoners to be accepted.

 

One of those who took part in the ongoing sit-in in Amed under the leadership of the Association for Assistance with Prisoners Families (TUAY-DER) is Dilek Baykan, the mother of Seda Baykan, who is staying in Diyarbakır Type T Closed Prison and has been held in solitary confinement for 1 and a half years.

 

Seda Baykan, who was arrested for the attack on the service vehicle carrying guards in Bursa Type E Closed Prison on April 20, 2022, was exiled from Bursa to the prison in Amed after a while, so her family moved their home from Ankara to Amed to meet their daughter.

 

'BAYKAN IS HELD IN A SINGLE CELL'

 

Dilek Baykan

 

Mother Dilek Baykan, who supported the Justice Sit-in, said that her daughter was innocent and said: "There was a bomb attack on the execution institutions in Bursa, and they are accusing my daughter of that. My daughter doesn't know how to knit so she can make a bomb." 

 

Stating that they and their lawyers were not informed when she was exiled from Bursa to Amed, the mother explained her daughter's situation with the following words: “The Turkish state put her in a solitary cell. Even now, when she goes out for air, people are following her as if she was going to run away. Guards don't take her to the doctor properly, they take her out for air if they want, they give her the letters if they want."

 

'I AM IN THE CITY WHERE MY DAUGHTER IS'

 

Saying that she moved from Ankara to Amed for her daughter, Baykan said: “I came to rent for my child. My house is damp but I don't care. I am in the city wherever my child is. The police told me at the train station, "You will go back, you will go back." I said to the police, 'I'm not going back.' We didn't steal money with shoe boxes like the government. We didn't defraud the state either. My daughter, I are almost there. If I can't find a house, I will set up a tent. I support my daughter. She was participating in the Gezi protests that is why they treat my daughter that way."

 

'FREEDOM FOR ALL PRISONERS'

 

Stating that she supports the Justice sit-in, Baykan said: “I agree with the actions of the mothers. Our children are hungry, how should we eat as their mothers? When I see my daughter, I can't come to my senses for a week. I want freedom and justice for my daughter and all prisoners. We are all human. Let them treat people humanely. Thieves can video call every day, but ours can call for 10 minutes once a week. Sometimes it doesn't even take 10 minutes. It's literally suffering. I support my daughter and the mothers."

 

MA / Eylem Akdağ