RUSSIA: MOSCOW: KURDS HOLD HUNGER STRIKE
(28 Jul 1995) Eng/Turkish/Nat Kurdish militants are struggling to draw international attention to their independence movement. A group of 36 Kurds in Moscow have been on a hunger strike in solidarity with similar actions around the world. Looking visibly tired and distraught these 36 men and women are trying to attract the world's attention to their struggle. They are members of Russia's Kurdish community and sympathisers of the Kurdish liberation movement. The group is taking part in a hunger strike which is one of several similar actions being held across the world to draw attention to their plight. Nine days into the hunger strike, two women are already seriously ill. Many strikers openly support the militarized P-K-K Kurdish Workers' Party - outlawed in Turkey - and engaged in a conflict which has claimed thousands of lives. Some of them have travelled from other regions of the former Soviet Union while others, like Iraqi Kurd Osa Azizi, are seeking political asylum. Although two women are already ill, he insists they'll continue to protest for as long as necessary. SOUNDBITE: (In Kurdish) "We intend to continue the hunger strike whatever the consequences may be. If necessary, we are prepared to sacrifice ourselves." SUPER CAPTION: Osa Azizi, Iraqi Kurd Since 1984, militants from the P-K-K have been battling for an independent Kurdistan in southeast Turkey. The world's eight (m) million Kurds are spread mainly around Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. SOUNDBITE: (In English) "The Kurdish problem is not just a problem inside the country, it's an international problem which means that the international community has to take responsibility for that question. They must make pressure of Turkey, on the Turkish government, to accept a political solution." SUPER CAPTION: Sipan Erindar, Kurdish Information Committee in Moscow Over five-thousand Kurds live in Moscow, some born in former Soviet republics, others refugees who quietly slipped across the border to escape repression. Official disregard to the refugee problem makes Russia's Kurds an all but forgotten people, their demands for an independent homeland barely heard beyond the four walls of their headquarters in Moscow. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
