JINHA

AMED – Families in Diyarbakır are on the 18th day of a hunger strike for the right to retrieve and bury the bodies of their children, slain in the Sur district. Dr. Halis Yerlikaya, speaking on the families’ medical condition, announced that the hunger strikers are beginning to suffer medical complications and called for their demands to be met immediately.

For 49 days, Turkish state forces have mounted a nonstop assault on the Sur district of the city of Diyarbakır. State forces have refused to turn over the bodies of four young people killed in the assault. The state has denied the families access to the bodies of Mesut Seviktek and İran Oran for 28 days; that of Ramazan Öğüt for 21; and that of Rozerin Çukur for 12.

After trying every possible avenue to retrieve the bodies of their children, lying in the street just a few kilometers away, the families of the dead youth and teenagers started a hunger strike as a last resort 18 days ago. Doctors who perform daily checkups on the families have reported deteriorating health conditions, particularly among the children’s mothers.

Dr. Halis Yerlikaya is a specialist in internal medicine in Diyarbakır, part of the team performing the checkups. He began by noting that whatever the political position of those who were killed, “once there’s a dead body in the picture, this shouldn’t be happening.” Halis said that the fact that the families felt forced to enter a hunger strike indicates the gravity of the inhumane conditions.

Halis said hunger strikers have lost weight and are experiencing issues related to low blood pressure.

“Illnesses have begun as a result of a range of hunger-related syndromes—dizziness, trembling and consciousness issues,” said Halis. “The families’ demands need to be met before more devastating problems develop. We are observing that the families are determined not to abandon their hunger strike without receiving the bodies.”

Halis said that 18 days was a sufficient amount of time for serious and irreversible medical consequences to take place. He called for the families’ demands to be met before issues such as heart and organ problems, nervous system damage or infections resulting from a depressed immune system set in.

(ea-ny/gc/cm)