MERSIN, North Kurdistan, — Seventeen Kurdish children have launched a hunger strike in a Mersin jail to protest against their pre-trial detention.
An estimated number of 3000 Kurdish children are believed to be jailed in Turkish prisons for taking part in demonstration or throwing stones at Turkish police.
These seventeen children were arrested on 6 October 2011 for attending a funeral of slain Kurdish freedom fighters who lost their lives in battle with Turkish colonial army.
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.
A petition has been launched directed at Turkish Justice Minister urging release of these children who have been held arbitrarily;