The Turkish 'Death Fast' for many of the political groups involved is all but over. Apart from the hard left group the DKHP, who say they will continue it, all the other groups have realised that they are not prepared to allow their comrades to risk their lives, while the Turkish government and the rest of he world do nothing. Ninety-two people have so far died, with hundreds of survivors attempting to put their life back together, many of them suffering from severe vitamin deficiency which effects their memories, and the collapse of their motor neuro systems.
People Not Profit, have never and should never offer their blind allegiance to any organisation or struggle, we do and should always keep a critical eye on anyone who claims to have all the answers, and this applies to the present Turkish prison struggle. Although we occasionally work on certain initiates with individuals from the 'Authoritarian' left, the one thing that bonds those involved in PNP, is the belief that non-authoritarian, open ways of organising are and should be what we are all practising. We do try to work in different ways to the left, and that means we believe everybody should be leaders and nobody should be leaders and we work without formal structures, elected leaders, masters or gods and without central committees. Having said all this, we do not know what it must be like to live your life under such an repressive region, one which is willing to beat you, torture you, or kill you for daring to raise your voice against it. We could only stand up and vehemently criticize, the ways chosen to fight that system, if we lived it and where part of it, we do not know how we would respond unless we where faced with it. Our analysis and ways of organising, come from the belief and the knowledge that hierarchical ways of organising have failed again and again, and a commitment to not only the liberation of society and the world but the liberation of ourselves, free from the orders of the capitalist bosses, and the central committee leaders. We believe power exists all around us, even inside revolutionary struggles, organisations and even personal relationships and this power must be continually challenged so it is reduced to its the barest minimum. With all this in mind, I believe the people who took the drastic decision to go on 'Death Fast' in Turkey did so because they believed it was only way they could defend themselves against the murderous Turkish regime. Over the past couple of months some of us in PNP have been working with Turkish and Kurdish people to produce a project called 'the Lemon Seed' about the struggle in Turkish prisons. What I found out about the 'Death Fast' through researching, reading and listening to interviews, talking to my Turkish/Kurdish friends was that those who participated, did so with great courage, solidarity and humanity towards each other. Many of the young women and men who participated understood what imprisonment was and what freedom was and what life was, and they chose the path to take. Many of them described themselves as walking towards death to demand life and too demand to live, not because they wanted to die, but because they wanted to live. The reason I am writing this, is because we have faced criticism for showing solidarity, not from our enemies, we expect that, but from some of those who are fighting in the same ways that we are. I will end it at that.

Showing practical solidarity
We are still collecting for those who have come off the hunger strike and we will show our solidarity to those trying to get themselves on the mend again. We recently raised money for a project in Turkey called the 'Lifehouse' a self help project of survivors who are living together and supporting each other to get themselves back into everyday living - though obviously for these people living will never be the same again. If you would like to make a donation to this you can do by sending a Cheque or postal order to:
People Not Profit, c/o News From Nowhere, 96 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4HY, UK

"FIRST WE WERE SUFFOCATED WITH GAS BOMBS, THEN WE WERE BURNT ALIVE"
INTERVIEW WITH EBRU DINCER - MORE