Kurdish prisoners forced to say Turkish national anthem

by

Mehmet Âkif Ersoy - Turkish Poet who penned the Turkish National Anthem

New report released by IHD Adana branch highlights the Human rights violations of Kurdish activists in prison. The report concludes the following;

– Children prisoners forced to say Turkish national anthem.

– Expired or rotten food were given to both children, and women.

– Number of instances of human rights violations have increased by 5 times.

– Letters are not given to prisoners on time, and destroyed at times.

– Prisoners are not allowed to make phone calls in Kurdish.

– Children prisoners repeatedly interrogated, and in some instances beaten.

The Kurdish national anthem is called Ey Reqîb which means “Oh Enemy”. It was written by a Kurdish poet and political activist while imprisoned in Iran, known as Yûnis Reuf in 1938. Forcing Kurdish prisoners to say the Turkish national anthem violates their dignity, and further deepens the wounds of Kurdish people that have been denied constitutionally protected right.