A far-left Turkish prisoner, on a hunger strike against controversial jail reforms, died Wednesday in a hospital from burns he sustained in an act of self-immolation, a source close to the hunger strikers told AFP.
Ibrahim Erler set himself ablaze Saturday in a jail in the northwestern town of Tekirdag in an apparent protest against a police crackdown on a funeral procession for a hunger-strike victim, said the man, who identified himself only as Vedat.
Erler was jailed for links to the outlawed People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), which is the chief architect of the months-long hunger strike, he added.
The source was speaking from a house in Istanbul, which DHKP-C associates have been using as a base for hunger-strikers fasting in solidarity with their fellow activists in prison.
Turkey's leading rights group, the Human Rights Association, which backs the strikers, confirmed Erler's death in Istanbul.
The strike, which started last October as a protest at jails with tighter security, has so far claimed 34 lives -- both prison inmates and outside supporters -- ISTANBUL (AFP)
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