BOSTON FORUM
Former political prisoner urges support for Turks and Kurds
on death fast
By Frank
Neisser
Boston
A former Turkish political prisoner told a solidarity
meeting here on June 17 that even though 23 prisoners in her
country have died on a hunger strike and more than 50 others
have suffered irreparable loss of memory, the struggle is
continuing.
Cemile Cakir described the murderous assault of the Turkish
Army on 21 prisons last December to try and break the spirit of
the political prisoners, who are resisting implementation of an
isolation and control system modeled on U.S. high-tech
behavior-modification prisons and called the F-system.
Although the troops massacred 34 prisoners under "Operation
Back to Life," they could not stop the hunger strike, which
began last Oct. 20 and still continues.
Cakir explained the role of the CIA and the Pentagon in
overturning civilian governments in Turkey and of the
International Monetary Fund in forcing Turkey into economic
crisis and then dictating how the economy would be run.
Members of Boston's Kurdish community were in the audience
and on the platform. Kurdish activist Umut Ozcan read moving
testimony from prisoners and families detailing the horrific
assault on Dec. 19. Dr. Huseyen Aktas, a leader from the
Kurdish community, described the U.S. role in Turkey's war on
the Kurds, and called on participants not to spend tourist
dollars in Turkey.
Palestinian activist Amer Jubran spoke of Palestinian
prisoners in Israeli jails and gave solidarity to the Turkish
prisoners.
Bob Traynham--member of Steel Workers Local 8751, Boston
School Bus Drivers, the International Action Center, and a
former Black Panther--discussed the death penalty, the
prison-industrial complex, and police repression here in the
U.S., including Boston and Cincinnati.
The meeting showed the great need right now for
international support and solidarity with the Turkish political
prisoners. Justice for Turkish Political Prisoners and the IAC
are calling on people to write Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit
demanding an end to the F-system and attacks on the prisoners.
Forward letters to JTPF, c/o International Action Center, 31
Germania St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.
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