RIHA - Prisoner İsmet Karak, named after his uncle who died on death fast, participated in the ongoing hunger strike demanding "freedom for Abdullah Öcalan".

 

Actions and activities initiated to demand the physical freedom of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who could not be heard from after his interrupted phone call with his brother Mehmet Öcalan on March 25, 2021, continue. As part of the "Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, solution to the Kurdish issue" campaign, a rotating hunger strike was launched in prisons on December 27. The hunger strike is on its 33rd day today.

 

THE STORY OF KARAK

 

İsmet Karak is one of the prisoners on hunger strike. 34-year-old Karak has a remarkable story. Karak takes his name from his uncle, who lost his life during the death fast in 1983, which was a continuation of the Great Death Fast action that was initiated under the leadership of Hayri Durmuş, Kemal Pir, Akif Yılmaz and Ali Çiçek on July 14, 1982, in Diyarbakır Prison No. 5. He joined the PKK in the 2000s, and the news of his death was given to his family in 2012.

 

After expressing their condolences for their child, the family goes to Elbak (Başle) district of Wan to collect the body. One of the soldiers informs the family that Karak is kept safe. Karak, who turned out to be alive, was arrested after making a political defense in court.

 

Karak is sent to many prisons in this process; Wan, Mûş, Erzîngan, Kırıkkale and most recently Sincan No. 2 High Security Closed Prison. Karak, who has been detained since 2012, was sentenced to aggravated imprisonment 14 times. His sentence was approved by the Supreme Court in 2017. He has been held in a solitary cell in the prison to which he was last transferred for about a year.

 

PRISONERS ARE DETERMINED IN THEIR DEMANDS

 

Karak stated that he was on hunger strike in a telephone conversation with his family living in the Kubika Çareba (Akçayıl) rural neighborhood of Riha's Pirsûs (Suruç) district.

 

Karak's father, Müslüm Karak (69), said that his son, to whom he spoke about his action, has not compromised on his struggle so far. Father Karak shared that in their last meeting, his son stated that there were nearly 350 cells and nearly 60 PKK prisoners in Sincan No. 2 High Security Closed Prison. Karak said that his son went on a hunger strike and that the isolation of the prisoners was deepened.

 

Baba Karak said: "I was going to prison for a visit on September 12. I was also held in prison in the 90s. Even during those periods, families were bringing us food and clothes from outside. Now, even the letters we sent with our money are not included in the prison. Since they are in Kurdish, they are not given the ones written to them. The current practice is "They are trying to turn us into 'slaves of slaves' through isolation. They are imposing on us 'You will accept whatever we say'. This is oppression. Kurds need to raise their voice against this."

 

Emphasizing that his son was determined in his action, Karak called for common sense to the public for all the prisoners, in the person of his son, who participated in the hunger strike actions.

 

MA / Ceylan Şahinli