2 Police Raids Target Istanbul Hunger Strikers

Turkey’s security forces raided two Istanbul neighborhoods in a bid to end a hunger strike that has cost more than 40 lives and thrown a spotlight on the country’s poor human rights record.

In one raid, police used tear gas and clashed with about 50 people who threw stones and Molotov cocktails. A second operation led to the arrest of seven hunger strikers and many of their supporters, the state-run Anatolian news agency reported. The strikers are protesting prison conditions.

The crackdowns came eight days after four people died in a similar swoop on hunger strikers’ homes. Relatives said the four were killed by police, but officers said they died from self-immolation.