Leyla Zana, a pro-Kurdish deputy from Ağrı in the Parliament, has said that she would begin a fast unto death unless the youth killings are not stopped.
“Let's die, so the young people won't die. If we can't stop the killings, I will embark on fasting unto death," she declared. “I would rather die than watch the killings."
She was speaking on Thursday on her way to the restive town of Cizre where a curfew has still remained in force for a fifth day.
Zana has praised the country's reconciliation process and said: "Kurds have been considered as a partner as a whole, for the first time in the history of Kurdistan."
“Öcalan has been regarded as a partner and our political party in the Parliament has been considered as a partner. This is very important. I do not take this lightly."
Abdullah Öcalan, the head of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, reportedly demanded to meet with Zana in 2014, when she was serving an independent deputy from the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. In a response to Öcalan's call, Zana has joined the three-member pro-Kurdish delegation including Hatip Dicle, the chair-of Democratic Society Congress, or DTK, and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, an Istanbul deputy from People's Democracy Party, or HDP.
In late 2014, Zana declared she would join the HDP two days after the removal of a five-year political ban on her. In the June 7 elections, she standed as a candidate from the pro-Kurdish HDP party and was elected to the Parliament from Ağrı, the Southeast.
In her speech, Zana has also accused the government of trying to impose its own view on Kurds. “A saying has been imposed upon us; 'That's what I understand when peace is said and let it be yours when the peace is called.'"
“Our people have a thirst for freedom. Let's die instead of the having the youth die," she cried.
The activity of fasting unto death is a controversial practice in which an individual refrains from eating and drinking with the intention of preparing for death. Some human right activists say the activity should be considered as an attempt to commit suicide.
After her speech, Zana began marching to Cizre along with nearly 5,000 Kurds, who gathered outside a culture center in İdil,
another town of Şırnak, news report said.
Selahattin Demirtaş, the co-chair of People's Democracy Party, or HDP, and 30 MPs from the pro-Kurdish party were seen marching in the front row of the huge rally. The pro-Kurdish delegation that took place in the march also included two members of the interim government; Development Minister Müslüm Doğan and EU Affairs Minister Ali Hayda Koca.
The huge crowd chanted: “Revenge" “Long live struggle in Cizre", “PKK represents people and people here".
A skirmish erupted when police warned marchers to stop at the exit to İdil town, where security barricades have been set up. Police fired warning shots and used gas bombs to disperse the march. The angry crowd ignored the police warning and swerved off the highway into farming fields beside the highway.
Security forces have stopped the pro-Kurdish march nearly 20 km outside the restive town. Demirtaş and his delegation returned back to İdil through village roads. The pro-Kurdish Party's group meeting, originally supposed to be held on Friday, has been cancelled due to the curfew.
The 54-year-old MP rose to prominence in 1991, when she became the first ever Kurdish woman to be elected to the Turkish parliament. After being elected in 1991, Zana attempted to take oath of allegiance in the Kurdish language in the then General Assembly. Her move has unleashed a storm of criticism. She was later sent to prison.
