A HUNGER strike has been victorious, finally ending after 161 days.

Imam Sis, who lives in Newport, had refused food for 161 days as he - along with thousands of fellow Kurdish campaigners - demanded the end to the solitary confinement of Kurdish Leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who has been barred from seeing his lawyers for many years.

The heroic hunger striker survived on only on a mixture of vitamin capsules, tea, diluted sugar, and salty water - eating no food throughout his strike.

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Turkey has agreed to meet the protestors’ core demands, in a move that Plaid Cymru – who supported the hunger striker and pressed the Welsh Government to intervene – have hailed a foreign policy victory.

The Welsh Government wrote a letter to Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, with Mr Hunt also contacted directly by a group of 50 MPs and Assembly Members, which included all Plaid Cymru elected members, and appealed to him to intervene.

The Foreign Secretary replied to Plaid Cymru’s Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts, saying he had asked Turkey to comply with the findings on a report by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment into the conditions in which Mr Öcalan was held.

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow International Relations Minister, Delyth Jewell AM, said: “I am delighted that the Kurdish hunger strikers have secured victory in their campaign to end the solitary confinement of Abdullah Öcalan.

“Many of them have sacrificed their long-term health in order to secure justice for their cause; it’s such a relief that they will not have to sacrifice their lives as well.

“My constituent, Imam Sis, has gone 161 days without food and faces a difficult battle to recover, but I know he will gain strength from the support of well-wishers from across the UK.”

South Wales Argus:

Delyth Jewell AM

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Delyth Jewell AM, who represents South Wales East in the Welsh Assembly, added: “While the campaign was an international one, we in Wales played a crucial part by putting pressure on the relevant actors to do the right thing.

“I’d like to thank everyone who played a part in this campaign, from the Plaid Cymru activists who have been supporting Imam, to politicians across the board who have saved lives by acting decisively.

“My hope is that formal peace negotiations can now resume between Turkey and representatives of the Kurdish nation in order to bring long-term peace for a people who have spent centuries fighting for their lives.”

South Wales Argus:

Imam Sis was on hunger strike for 161 days

Imam Sis, who based himself at the Kurdish Community Centre on Chepstow Road, confirmed the end of his hunger strike and said: “I would like the Welsh Senedd, which was the first parliament in the world to give full support to the hunger strikers.

“Also to Plaid Cymru Assembly Members Delyth Jewell, Leanne Wood and Bethan Sayed, and party leader, Adam Price, for all their support.

“Ending the hunger strike does not mean the end of the struggle against isolation, we will continue to struggle in other forms to ensure isolation is definitively brought to an end.”