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DESMOND TUTU was among 50 Nobel Prize winners who demanded an end to the isolation of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan and other political prisoners in Turkey today.
The former Archbishop of Cape Town signed a letter demanding Turkey and the international community “take immediate action at this critical moment” to bring an end to the solitary confinement of Mr Ocalan, who has been held on Imrali island since 1999.
Other signatories included Nobel Prize winners from the fields of science, literature, economics and medicine.
They called on the Turkish state to “assume its humanitarian responsibilities” in its treatment of all political prisoners.
The signatories said: “We stand in solidarity with the hundreds of hunger strikers who are now pressing this same demand, including the Kurdish parliamentarian Leyla Guven, whose life is in imminent danger.”
The People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MP for Hakkari was jailed last year for making statements in opposition to Operation Olive Branch, Turkey’s illegal invasion and occupation of Afrin in northern Syria.
Ms Guven has been charged with spreading terrorist propaganda and membership of an armed terrorist organisation.
She faces more than 100 years in prison if convicted.
She entered the 77th day of hunger strike today, vowing it will be a “death fast” unless her demands are met.
Ms Guven’s case is due to be heard in a Diyarbakir court tomorrow, however she has refused to attend further hearings and remains in a critical condition.
In a letter to supporters, Ms Guven said she was “glad that you have heard my voice.
“We are all sisters and the thing that unites us most is our freedom struggle, our resistance against all forms of fascism, dictatorship and patriarchal mentality,” Ms Guven wrote.
She cited women including Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin and PKK founding member Sakine Cansiz who became symbols through their struggle.
“Women constitute half of the world’s population. Yet we are oppressed. When we start fighting for our rights we are labelled terrorists,” the letter continued.
Ms Guven said she started the hunger strike as “a prisoner has nothing but their body.”
She vowed: “We will continue to resist. Resistance will help us win. Our belief in this is infinite. In this respect I call on you to resist. Long live the solidarity of people and women,” she concluded.
