19 July 2001 Edition
TD's call for pressure on Turkey
Further pressure needs to be exerted on the government of Turkey as the hunger strike crisis in that country continues. Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, who raised the hunger strike in the Dáil recently, has called on people to contact the Turkish Embassy and UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson.
Describing the ongoing prison crisis as ``an appalling tragedy with many echoes of our own experience'' Ó Caoláin told An Phoblacht:
``I urge people to put maximum pressure on the government of Turkey which is represented in Ireland by a diplomatic mission. They should write, phone or fax and make the point that the Turkish government's policy is unacceptable, that it cannot continue to allow hunger strikers to die and that it must reverse its punitive prison policy and actively seek a negotiated settlement through direct dialogue with all the groups involved.''
Ó Caoláin also urged people to write to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson seeking her direct intervention in the crisis in Turkey, which he described as a ``human rights disaster''.
The relevant addresses are:
Gunaltay Sibay
Ambassador of Turkey
11 Clyde Road
Ballsbridge
Dublin 4
Tel: 668 5240
660 1623
Fax: 668 5014.
Mary Robinson
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland.
Describing the ongoing prison crisis as ``an appalling tragedy with many echoes of our own experience'' Ó Caoláin told An Phoblacht:
``I urge people to put maximum pressure on the government of Turkey which is represented in Ireland by a diplomatic mission. They should write, phone or fax and make the point that the Turkish government's policy is unacceptable, that it cannot continue to allow hunger strikers to die and that it must reverse its punitive prison policy and actively seek a negotiated settlement through direct dialogue with all the groups involved.''
Ó Caoláin also urged people to write to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson seeking her direct intervention in the crisis in Turkey, which he described as a ``human rights disaster''.
The relevant addresses are:
Gunaltay Sibay
Ambassador of Turkey
11 Clyde Road
Ballsbridge
Dublin 4
Tel: 668 5240
660 1623
Fax: 668 5014.
Mary Robinson
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland.