MERSIN, — Seventeen Kurdish children who were arrested four months ago following the funeral of HPG (People’s Defence Forces) guerrilla have staged a hunger strike to denounce their pre-trail detention.
The children who have been detained arbitrarily, had joined the funeral of guerrilla Sadik Kaya on 6 October 2011 together with hundreds of people. They were arrested shortly after the funeral on the ground of “making propaganda for illegal organisation”, referring to Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK).
Speaking to ANF Emine Orhan, mother of jailed 16 years old Jiyan Orhan, said the children are not in good condition. “The children have been left in a cell, no judges have called them yet,” she said.
Mersin Human Rights Association (IHD) warned about the serious condition of these youngsters. At the moment there are 130 children in Mersin prison, who are charged with “throwing stones at Police” and “attending demonstrations”.
It should be noted that Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan had vowed to do “whatever it takes” to crash the Kurdish resistance, “men, women, children, no matter what they are I would do whatever it takes”.