30 main opposition lawmakers call on PM Yıldırım over two educators' hunger strike

Some 30 lawmakers from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) have sent a letter to Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, asking the government to "reconsider the issue" and reinstate two educators, currently on hunger strike, who were dismissed through state of emergency decrees. 

The health of Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, who have been on hunger strike since March 10, is reported to be rapidly deteriorating, the letter stated. 

"Taking into the account the public sensitivity regarding this matter and the irreparable damage being done to Gülmen and Özakça's health in the strike, we ask you to reevaluate [the educators'] situation and to urgently consider their reinstatement," it said.

CHP lawmakers Orhan Sarıbal, Niyazi Nefi Kara, Mehmet Tüm and Ali Şeker had announced on May 10 that they would go on a 24-hour hunger strike to raise awareness of the educators' critical situation.  

Gülmen and Özakça have been demanding to be returned to their jobs, which they lost with a state of emergency decree. They began a sit-in protest on Ankara's Yüksel Street on March 10 in a move to raise awareness of their situation, but as their health situations started to deteriorate they were taken home. 

Gülmen was dismissed from her job at Selçuk University and primary school teacher Özakça was dismissed from his post at the Mardin Mazıdağı Cumhuriyet Elementary School. 

Meanwhile, police have on May 12 dispersed a crowd of demonstrators protesting in an Ankara square against the suspension of Gülmen and Özakça, local media reported.

The protestors had gathered at a human rights memorial on Yüksel Street on the morning of May 12 for a sit-in protest. Police detained four of the demonstrators but released them...