The doctor of the hunger-striking educators Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça states on Wednesday that their health conditions are worsening. According to doctor Benan Koyuncu, the educators do not accept the medical care in prison, and the authorities do not allow him to examine Özakça and Gülmen.
Gülmen and Özakça have been on hunger strikes for over 90 days to protest their dismissal by the AKP government in a purge after last year's failed coup and they arrested on May 23.
M.D. Koyuncu maintains: “Nuriye says that it is cold where they stay. The energy consumption probably increased in cold. They need to use private bathrooms for the risk of infection, but we do not think it is happening. Their immune systems collapsed. Their beddings must be changed daily, which is, again, not happening. Semih’s cankers that had emerged before he went to prison do not heal, probably because of infection.”
Explaining that Özakça and Gülmen used to have regular medical examinations, and consume sugar, lemon, and herbal tea outside, Koyuncu says that they have no access to these in there, which only makes their conditions worse. Koyuncu notes that, in addition to the problems in their immune systems, the educators also have protein breakdown, which, in the case, it reaches the heart muscle cells, might cause heart failure.
Semih Özakça’s wife, Esra Özakça, also remarked that she and Semih’s mother had health problems due to the hunger-strike. They both suffer from severe pains and have lost around 4.5 kilogrammes each.
Esra Özakça also reported the conditions his husband and Nuriye Gülmen live in. She said that Semih Özakça was injured because he was hit with a detector when he was taken to the prison, and the wound inflamed, still not healed. “He complained that he had been dragged out of his cell to be searched,” says Esra Özakça, adding that her husband also suffered from myalgia and arthralgia.
Esra Özakça gave word from Nuriye Gülmen, as well. She says that Gülmen’s back pain was getting more severe as the day goes on. Both Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça were also reported to have developed sensitiveness to light.
Özakça’s wife and mother also started the hunger strike on May 22.
