ANKARA (voa) – 49th Turkish prisoner has died after a long-standing hunger strike against controversial prison reforms.
Thirty-year-old Tuncay Yildirim died Thursday after an eight month hunger strike. He was released from detention in February, for health reasons, and died in a home at Izmir in western Turkey. He was serving a 12-year jail sentence for membership in a banned far-left group.
Protesters launched hunger strikes in October 2000 when the Turkish prison system implemented higher security cells that hold one to three inmates. Authorities previously used large wards that held dozens of prisoners.
The prisoners complain they are socially isolated and more vulnerable to abuse in the smaller high security cells. The Turkish government says the larger wards are more dangerous and conducive to group violence. The Turkish government has ruled out a return to wards.
