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'This is the 275th day of our hunger strike'
STEVE SWEENEY meets with Semih Ozakca, a symbol of resistance against President Erdogan’s crackdown on public-sector workers

THE photograph above epitomises how desperate the situation has become in Turkey.

I met primary school teacher Semih Ozakca in Ankara last Friday. He has been on hunger strike for 278 days since he was purged from his post.

Along with Nuriye Gulmen, Ozakca has become a symbol of resistance in Turkey. Their hunger strike has aimed to draw attention to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on public-sector workers, with more than 100,000 sacked since the failed coup attempt of July 2016.

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