Leyla Güven, a deputy from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) who has been on a hunger strike to protest the isolation of the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was hospitalized on Wednesday due to her deteriorating health but was subsequently sent home after rejecting medical treatment.
Güven, who was recently released from prison, has been on a hunger strike for 98 days demanding that PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan be allowed to meet with his lawyers.
Öcalan has been imprisoned since 1999, while the PKK has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 demanding more rights for the Kurdish minority
Güven’s daughter Sabiha Temizkan announced on Twitter on Wednesday that her mother was in critical condition.
“We are at the hospital now, [my mother] will not accept medical intervention. She is in the intensive care unit, and doctors have only been able to monitor her heartbeat. Despite her worsening condition, my mother says she wants to go home. Please, don’t let her die. Please,” Temizkan tweeted.
