Dublin solidarity vigil for anarchist prisoner Umut Firat on hunger strike in Turkish prison

Date:

On Wednesday the 1st of February there was a solidarity vigil for Umut Firat in Dublin, Ireland. Umut is a writer for the recently jailed in Turkey and on the 53rd day of a hunger strike. Anarchist Meydan Newspaper Anarchists and supporters of Umut’s hunger strike gather outside the Turkish Embassy. Turkish embassy staff came out to mock the protesters. Embassy staff called the police to have get the protesters to remove a banner that was tied to the fence of the embassy. The banner said FREE UMUT FIRAT! SOLIDARITY FROM IRELAND. The police stayed on till the vigil was over.

Umut has been on hunger strike for 53 days now. He has been locked up in prison for the last 23 years. He is on hunger strike because of the state of emergency the Turkish state has imposed since the attempted coup d’etat in July, and against the harsh prison conditions imposed by the state because it.

Since the state of emergency Umut, as well as all political prisoners held in Turkey, have had prison conditions seriously worsened. Some have been put into isolation, others have been forced into cramped cells, there are forced strip searches, visiting times have been reduced and some prisoners not allowed visits at all.

These tactics are not new. States across the world have used these same tactics to try undermine struggles, to break the morale and spirits of prisoners fighting against prison regimes. We know these tactics only too well in Ireland. We need to give support and solidarity with Umut and all the prisoners in Turkey. Now is a vital time in their struggle, a lot is hinging on Umut’s hunger strike. If it is successful prison conditions will soften and become more relaxed than what they are now.“As a human, Revolutionary Anarchist, Conscientious/ Total Objector, an individual who has been spending 23 years in a lit cell under the darkness of a dungeon, I see all entities of capitalist, statist, nationalist, fundamentalist, sectarian and patriarchal power structure are responsible for all this. I start hunger strike to draw attention to all this, before and after, to emphasize that new forms of struggle and social opposition has been organized, and to reflect my own political, moral and conscientious attitude.” - Umut Firat

VICTORY TO UMUT
COMRADE FIRAT IS NOT ALONE
FIRE TO THE PRISONS
FIRE TO THE TURKISH STATE

5th Feb update  - Revolutionary Anarchist Prisoner Umut Fırat Süvarioğulları Ended His Hunger Strike With Victory

Revolutionary Anarchist prisoner and Anarchist Meydan Newspaper writer Umut Fırat Süvarioğulları has ended his hunger strike action that he started on December 11, 2016, against the conditions of State Of Emergency (SOE) he was exposed in Izmir Yenisakran T Type Prison number 4, where he was "transferred for exile", being forced with 20 people to stay in 14 person cells and sleep on torn beds with blood, against continued psycological pressure, torture and unrecognition of his revolutionary anarchist political identity, on its 55. day.

Prison administration took a back step as a result of Umut Fırat's determined struggle and they changed his cell as per the demands of our comrade. Comrade Umut Fırat communicated through his family, that he ended his hunger strike when his demands were met and his health condition is fine.

The victory that comrade Umut Fırat won on the 55th day of his hunger strike against the practices that create a SOE inside SOE in prisons , is a response to state institutions that want to take advantage of the arbitrariness and flexibility of the SOE process. The victory is also a victory in the name of all prisoners who are exposed to similar practives in the SOE process.

Umut Fırat's struggle that he carried out with determination, were supported with solidarity actions in the geography that we live in and in other parts of the world; trying to add voices to his voice. We salute all revolutionary organizations that didn't leave him alone and everyone who showed solidarity during the hunger strike action of comrade Umut Fırat Süvarioğulları.

Long Live Anarchist Solidarity!
Umut Fırat Süvarioğulları Is Not Alone!
Revolutionary Hearts Will Destroy The Cells!