Prisoners end hunger strike for Kurdish leader in Turkey
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Kurdish politician has announced the end of a hunger strike by prisoners demanding improved conditions for Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of an outlawed Kurdish rebel group.
In a statement Sunday on the 200th day of the hunger strike, Leyla Guven said they had reached their goal. The Turkish government has lifted a ban on lawyer visits to a prison island where Ocalan is serving a life term.
Close to 3,000 people have joined the hunger strike in some 90 prisons. Ocalan, in a letter shared Sunday by his lawyers following a second visit this month, thanked the strikers for their support and said he expects them to end the protest.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, was arrested in 1999.
Hunger strikers in Turkey traditionally refuse food but take vitamins and salt and sugar solutions, which prolong life.