NEWS CENTER – Mizgin Aydin has been released from the Gebze women’s prison near Istanbul after thirty years in Turkish prisons. In 1992, at the age of 19, the political prisoner was sentenced to thirty years in prison by a state security court (DGM) in Amed (tr. Diyarbakir) for membership in a terrorist organization.
Mizgin Aydin is the second woman to be released after thirty years in Turkey
During her stay in prisons in Êlih (Batman), Sêwas (Sivas), Mêrdîn (Mardin), Elbistan, Çewlîg (Bingöl) and most recently in Gebze in western Turkey, Mizgin Aydin went on hunger strikes several times. She suffers from high blood pressure and kidney problems and is currently being treated for breast cancer.
Mizgin Aydin was greeted by a crowd of people as she was released from Gebze Women’s Prison on Wednesday. In addition to family members, members of the prisoner aid organization MATUHAY-DER and the Peace Mothers initiative were waiting in front of the prison gate. Also arriving from Istanbul were the prisoners’ relatives who have been holding a “justice watch” for months and are demanding the release of the sick from prison. There was a relaxed atmosphere at the welcome, many kisses were exchanged and flowers were presented.
Mizgin Aydin gave a short speech in which she remembered the people who lost their lives fighting for freedom and democracy. She continued: “As long as one of us is still in prison, this freedom is not freedom. All our friends in prison must be released.”
Mizgin Aydin finally drove off with her relatives, who picked her up. Today she wants to continue to her birthplace Amed.
