MPs of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish BDP party begin hunger strike

BDP co-chairman Gulten Kisanak announced the decision at a press conference in Ankara on Monday.

“Over 6,000 people have been arrested because of their thoughts and political activities. Over 60 of our friends, including our lawmaker from Sirnak (province), Selma Irmak, and another Sirnak lawmaker, Faysal Sariyildiz, are regularly on hunger strike to protest the intensification of political and military operations. The demands of our friends are clear. In order to support the resistance of our friends, we, as the BDP bloc, begin a two-day hunger strike today.”

Turkey recently arrested dozens of people across the country in operations against the Union of Kurdish Communities (KCK) -- the alleged urban wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group that is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, Iran, the United States, and the European Union.

The Turkish government believes the KCK paves the way for the implementation of PKK plots against the country and views the operations against the KCK as a parallel campaign with the military operations against the PKK in the mountains of southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.