ASYLUM HUNGER STRIKE
“To select the hunger strike is to make the ultimate political action in order to claim one’s dignity and freedom.” Here is an extract from an article Bahoz has asked to circulate. He’s been on hunger strike since May 17 as he’s been refused political asylum by the Greek authorities. “Why I demand the political asylum, what political asylum is, and the case of Greece: I, Zulkuf Murat Bora, more widely known as Bahoz, was forced to leave Turkey in 1995 due to my political beliefs and the Turkish state’s repression I was facing as a result from my struggle for the rights and liberty of the Kurdish people. Since 16/05/1999 there is an accusation against me from the Diyarbakir State Security Law Court of me being a part in an “armed and illegal Kurdish left organization” (which is how the Turkish state characterizes the Liberation Party of Kurdistan, in which I participated). The case against me is still pending. I asked for the political asylum in Greece. The first response I got was negative, so I applied again. The Greek state though didn’t accept even to examine my application, so I went on a hunger strike until my application was examined. That is on 02/05/2002 after 22 days of hunger strike. It’s a strange thing that the seven-member committee voted in favor of me with five votes for, one against and one neutral. From that time until today I have not received any answer, despite the fact that according to the legislature the minister owes to respond to the positive proposal of the committee within three to six months. The decision is still in his office in the Ministry of Public Order. In spite of the committee’s positive result the Minister does n t accept to sign the decision. His reasons are well known: after the pro-Kurdish Greek state handed in Otzalan to Turkey, both countries co-signed anti-terrorist agreements to assure that the Kurdish and Turkish fighters will be punished with many years of being kept as hostages, no responses to their applications for the political asylum and finally deportation. What political asylum means: According to the Geneva treaty (1951) when a person being outside its country of origin or accommodation, has a justified fear of prosecution, for reasons of race, religion, nationality, participation in a particular social group or political beliefs and because of this fear of prosecution he/she does not want or can return to his/hers country, deserves the political asylum. Greece is a natural crossroads, an obligatory pass for the refugee camions. The asylum, however, is given to only an extremely few surviving refugees after long complicated and prohibitive bureaucratic processes. All applications are turned down after a long period of pending or suspension, the refugees are threatened with deportation. Greece is the last country within the “civilized” European Union in providing political asylums. We can say that political refugees are kept as hostages by the Greek state. They have no rights at all (medical care, education, work etc).” Full article on Indymedia here.
