On 18 February, seven individuals from five countries arrived in Istanbul as members of an international delegation.
Their aim was to gather information about Turkey’s well-known Pit-type prisons and the indefinite hunger strikes organised in protest against them.
They wished to meet with civil society organisations such as lawyers, bar associations, and medical associations.
They wished to meet with the press, the fourth estate.
They wished to report on their impressions and compile a report.
Such international research missions are a right guaranteed by both international law and Turkey’s constitution.
However, Turkish fascism has once again demonstrated that it has no regard for law or human rights.
On 19 February, six members of the international delegation were taken into custody while walking on the street after leaving the People’s Law Office and were brought to the deportation centre in Arnavutköy.
Early in the morning of 20 February, the delegation was deported.
The delegation members, who were or going to be deported:
- Alejandra Matamoros Alexandrova, Lawyer, member of the Platform against Repression Barcelona (Spain)
- Andrea Lucidi, Journalist, Visione TV (Italy)
- Tatyana Desyatova, Coordinator of the Interbrigade in CRCF (Russia)
- Dr. Nick Krekelbergh, Doctor of Bioengineering Sciences and representative of Zannekinbond (Belgium)
- Jean Pascal Graziani, Representative of Supernova and AIF-France (France)
- Fernando Garcia, Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)
POLITICS OF INTIMIDATION
What did Turkish fascism demonstrate with this deportation?
1-) Turkish fascism is guilty. Pit Type Prisons are such a torture centre that it wanted to prevent these truths from coming to light at any cost.
2-) Turkish fascism has no tolerance for anything or anyone that is not like itself.
3-) Turkish fascism is cowardly. The state was afraid of a delegation that merely wished to speak with a few NGOs and journalists.
If it were not afraid, would it have hastily detained and deported the international delegation less than 24 hours after their arrival in Turkey?
The delegation had not even begun gathering information.
4-) Turkish fascism is desperate. It wants to intimidate those who are in solidarity to the prisoners in Pit Type prisons, who are sensitive to their problems, by arresting people who want to gather information.
Turkish fascism wants to suppress, silence and prevent international solidarity.
It wants the prisoners to slowly go mad, fall ill and die alone in those pits.
But there is one thing fascism forgets: People who fight for rights, freedoms and justice are not selfish, individualistic, cruel, oppressive, and insensitive like them.
They defend humanity’s highest values.
Fascism cannot understand or know this.
Because it possesses none of these values.
So, did it achieve its goal with such repressive reactions?
Was it able to prevent the Pit Types from being heard? Quite the contrary. By exaggerating in this way, the delegation’s arrest caused a huge stir in Russia and Italy and made the news. In Russia, the news that the delegation had been detained was even reported by the state agency TASS.
The French news agency is currently gathering information to report on the story.
So, when the delegation was deported in such a hurry, will the prisoners who are currently on indefinite hunger strike and in Pit Type prisons fall into despair and demoralisation?
Or, on the contrary, will their determination increase even more?
We want to appeal to all progressive, democratic, enlightened people, institutions and organisations around the world who stand for rights and freedoms:
Look, this is the kind of country Turkey is.
If they treat an international delegation consisting of lawyers, journalists and academics like this, what will they do to the prisoners in the Pit Type prisons?
That is why we call on you to stand with the revolutionary prisoners in Turkey even more than yesterday, based on the experience of this delegation.
Long live international solidarity!
Internationalism is the brotherhood of peoples.
Anti-Imperialist Front
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