Miscellaneous
Part of the tension in Turkey has to do with the massive campaign of hunger strikes of Kurdish prisoners that have been going on for nearly three months. They demand the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the PKK, be ended. Yavuz Baydar, Editor of Ahval, here gives the background of the attempts to stop the campaign, and explains what is taking place 'behind the scenes' and its political impact for the rerun of elections in Istanbul.