6 Hunger Strike in the Pendulum of Ethics and Law barked on by Gandhi in India as a part of his passive resistance is one of the outstanding milestones of the history of hunger strike. 11 In Türkiye, the first known case of hunger strike is the protest of poet Nazım Hikmet in 1950 at the Bursa Prison.12 The common political protests in Türkiye were those taking place at the Metris Prison at the end of 1970s.13 During the death fast embarked on in 1982 for protesting the acts of torture inflicted at the Diyarbakır Prison, four detainees died at the end of the 43rd day of their death fast.14 Following these years, hunger strike has become a type of protest resorted every period, and even in increasing numbers sometimes. In 1996 during which the most systematic and comprehensive protest was organised, the hunger strikes embarked on by 1500 detainees and convicts at 41 prisons located in 38 cities resulted in the death of 12 strikers.15 3. Considerations as to the Legal Nature of Hunger Strike Hunger strike is a way of “expressing” an objection against the State or the Government or the administration. Therefore, the motivation is generally political; however, the striker seeks to take advantage of the society’s supra-political emotions by waiving his most fundamental right, namely the right to a healthy life. The striker also intends to ensure the fulfilment of his/her political demands by means of making the case as a matter of conscience for the State authorities who do not want to be just an onlooker to the death of a person.16 In this sense, the act of the hunger striker, as a form of expression of thought, may be considered to fall into the scope of the “freedom 11 Metin Feyzioğlu, “Açlık Grevi (Hunger Strike)”, Ankara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi, Vol. 43, Issue 1-4, 1993, p. 160. 12 See İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları, Nâzım Hikmet’in Açlık Grevi (Millete Verdiğim Açık İstidaya Canımı Pul Yerine Kullanıyorum) (Nâzım Hikmet’s Hunger Strike – I Use My Life as a Stamp on the Petition Submitted to the Nation), 2011. 13 Sırma, p. 21. 14 Nalan Ova, “Türkiye’de Köşe Yazılarında Açlık Grevi Tartışmaları (Discussions on Hunger Strike in the Columns in Türkiye)”, Mülkiye Dergisi, 37/3, 2013, p. 107. 15 Turkish Medical Assosiation website “Hunger Strike of May 1996, Clinical Evaluation on Death Fast” https://www.ttb.org.tr/eweb/aclik_grevleri/turkce4. html (last pageview: 10.02.2021) 16 Feyzioğlu, p. 157.
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