Co-chairs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) will go on a hunger strike to protest against “inhumane treatment” in prison. Selahattin Demirtas said in a message addressed to the HDP and the public on Thursday (March 30) that he along with HDP deputy Abdullah Zeydan will start a hunger strike from March 31 due to the actions of a warden at Edirne Prison, where the HDP co-leader is currently being detained. HDP co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag were jailed pending trial on November 4 after refusing to give testimony in a probe linked to “terrorist propaganda”. Separately, DBP co-chair Sebahat Tuncel who is imprisoned in Silivri Prison said she would also join the hunger strike with a group at the prison on 1-5 April until the demands of the hunger strikers are met. Turkish authorities accuse the opposition party, the HDP – which is the third-biggest grouping in parliament – of links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The HDP denies the accusations.
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