Statement by the Anti-Imperialist Front
Urgent Call for International Solidarity for Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Turkey
Hunger striking political prisoner Gürkan Türkoğlu subjected to forced feeding
The Anti-Imperialist Front strongly condemns the forced medical intervention carried out against a hunger-striking revolutionary prisoner at Antalya City Hospital. This act marks a dangerous escalation in the repression of political prisoners resisting isolation and inhumane detention conditions.
Despite repeated warnings and calls from international supporters, the Turkish authorities, under Justice Minister Akın Gürlek have proceeded with practices that violate fundamental human rights and medical ethics.
What happened to Gürkan Türkoğlu
Very recently political prisoners Gürkan Türkoğlu, Tahsin Sağaltıcı and Hüseyin Özen were taken to hospital against their will for medical intervention from Antalya High Security Prison (pit-type prison).
Gürkan Türkoğlu, being on indefinite hunger strike for 265 days in protest against “pit-type” prisons, lost consciousness and was subjected to forced medical intervention without his consent on 20th April 2026.
According to direct testimony from his lawyer:
- He was taken to intensive care and restrained, handcuffed and tied to the hospital bed.
- Medical personnel administered interventions, including vitamin compounds and electrical stimulation, to restore consciousness.
- The attending doctor reportedly admitted uncertainty about the legal framework governing such actions.
- After regaining consciousness, Türkoğlu remained extremely weak, barely able to speak or comprehend, while further interventions were planned as his condition fluctuates.
- He reportedly attempted to remove the medical apparatus attached to his body despite his weakened state.
This treatment of forced intervention raises serious concerns about coercion, dignity and threat to life.
At the same time, other prisoners Tahsin Sağaltıcı and Hüseyin Özen have reportedly entered a more critical phase of resistance, ceasing intake of water and sugar, and are at imminent risk of similar forced interventions.
Isolation and “Pit-Type” Prisons
These hunger strikes are a response to the conditions in high-security “pit-type” prisons, characterized by extreme isolation, restricted human contact, and conditions widely criticized as forms of psychological and physical torture.
The World Medical Association, through the Malta Declaration on Hunger Strikers, affirms that forced feeding and medical intervention without consent are unethical and may constitute inhuman and degrading treatment.
Call for Solidarity
The Anti-Imperialist Front calls on all anti-imperialist, democratic, and progressive forces worldwide:
- To raise their voices against forced medical intervention and prison isolation
- To organize protests, demonstrations, and public actions
- To pressure Turkish authorities to immediately halt these practices
- To stand in active solidarity with hunger-striking prisoners
This is not only a struggle over prison conditions, it is a struggle for dignity and resistance against repression.
Silence enables these abuses. International solidarity can help stop them.
Forced feeding is a crime.
We call on all people of conscience: act now.
Ministry of Justice
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +90 312 417 77 70
Antalya City Hospital
Tel: +90 242 455 53 53
Antalya High Security Prison
Tel: +90 242 423 13 35
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