Interior Minister Threatens 111 Figures Who Signed Petition for Gülmen, Özakça

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Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has threatened 111 artists, activists and writers, who placed a petition on four newspapers in support of Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça who have been on hunger strike for 112 days demanding that they be reinstated to their jobs, and the newspapers that published it:

“You don’t trust the intelligence of police from who you ask for help whenever you need, you don’t trust prosecutors and judges either but you have complete trust in terror organization members.

“Do you realized what you signed? And what about those who publish it to encourage terror groups?”

The petition was published on Hürriyet, BirGün, Cumhuriyet and Evrensel newspapers.

What was said in the petition?

"Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça are only two of 5,000 academics, 50,000 teachers and 150,000 workers who have been discharged from their jobs through statutory decrees. They were sent to prison for going on hunger strike requesting that they be reinstated to their jobs. They have been hungry for 111 days.

"We want the state to take necessary measures for them to return to their schools and continue their life. Democracy and justice necessitate this". (EKN/TK)