Ankara hunger strikers reach 70 days without food

Nuriye Gulmen, a research assistant at Selcuk University in Konya, was first suspended from duty and then removed from her position during the state of emergency after the attempted coup in July. She started a solo protest to get her job back on Nov. 9 on Ankara’s Yuksel Street and soon was joined by Semih Ozakca, who had been dismissed from his position in an elementary school in Mardin's Mazidagi district, along with his wife.

On March 9, the protest escalated into a hunger strike. Gulmen and Ozakca have been detained many times by the police, but they have carried on. This period, after 60 days of malnutrition, is the most critical stage in most hunger strikes as the protesters are at risk of developing problems like Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a combination of neurological disorders caused by thiamine (Vitamin B1) deficiency.

Psychiatrist Semih Dikkatli told Al-Monitor, “The root cause of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is malnutrition. As the protesters take in only sugar and water, the first victims of these types of protests are the brain cells. It causes neurological and cognitive problems such as attention deficits, losses of concentration and memory. Immediate treatment is vital.”

Dikkatli added, “The government should be more proactive in these situations. It should establish a dialogue with the protesters and not ignore the public outcry. As the protesters reject medical treatment until their expectations from the government are fulfilled, the only way to treat them is to establish a dialogue. If the government fails to do so, it may contribute to conflicts and upheavals within society. It is necessary to prevent the protesters, whose kidney, liver and heart functions are already deteriorated, from contracting more severe and chronic diseases. … Turkish society expects a response and action from the government.”