Victory to the Turkish Hunger Strikers!

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Friday October 21, 2005 22:25 by IRSP - Irish Republican Socialist Party irscna at irsm dot org PO Box 8266, Austin TX 78713-8266,

20 October 2005
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America

Micky Og Devine speaking earlier this year at conference in solidarity with prisoners

On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish
Republican Socialist Committees of North America mark the fifth
anniversary of the beginning of the Turkish hunger strikes.

The hunger strikes began on 20 October 2000 in response to the Turkish
government's introduction of F-type prisons, which were designed to
isolate political prisoners, deny them their legitimate democratic
rights, and smash their resistance to the Turkish state. Since the
hunger strikes began, 120 men and women have died, while over 400 have
suffered permanent damage to their health.

Irish republican socialists know full well the courage it takes for
someone to use their own body as a weapon of protest. In 1981, three
members of the Irish National Liberation Army - Patsy O'Hara, Kevin
Lynch, and Michael Devine - died on hunger strike, along with seven
members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, struggling to win
their legitimate rights as prisoners of war. Hunger striking has a
long history in Irish culture dating back thousands of years.

Thus we salute the brave men and women who have been willing to
sacrifice their own health and lives to oppose the Turkish state's
attempts to isolate them and smash their resistance. Their demands are
just, legitimate, democratic, and humane. Victory to the Turkish
hunger strikers!

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