(The article is written by various authors and originally published in Turkish in December 2015. See other articles in Voices from the Movement in Turkey section.)
Becoming vegan is our responsibility and those who are aware of
this responsibility find ways to live their lives without using animals, no
matter what. The first pioneers became vegan in 1944, during the 2nd World War
when food and clothes were obtained with ration books and coupons.
Yet, some people still need to make a stand in order to lead
their lives as vegans. An example of
this is the detainees who continue their lives as vegans in prison.
Osman Evcan is one of those people; he never compromised on his
principles of veganism and did not let his captivity to become an excuse to
exploit animals. Instead, he fasted to death until the necessary conditions
were provided for him to live as a vegan.
His hunger strike that lasted 43 days in 2011 resulted in the necessary
regulations being put into place. However, following his recent transfer to
Kandira High Security Prison, his statutory rights are no longer met. He is not
catered for his vegan dietary needs and furthermore, he is subjected to abuse
from the prison governors. According to the news by DIHA, Evcan gave the
following statement:
“I informed
both the prison administration and the Open Prison Institution Management that
I do not consume any meat or animal products and that I only eat plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, grains
and legumes. As I subsist on these types of food as part of my vegan diet, I
requested to be served meals that suit my dietary requirements. This request
has been ignored since June with an arbitrary attitude.”
Evcan’s struggle carries a great
importance in terms of his stand for continuing to live as a vegan within
prison conditions and to enable all prisoners to live their lives in a way that
is just to animals.
His stand against the violation of
his rights should be a great inspiration to those who still make excuses like, “I can’t become a vegan whilst I’m a student”, “I can’t become a vegan whilst I’m working” or “I can’t afford to become a vegan”. This action shows
that we do not need to wait for the “perfect
conditions” to be fair to the animals; instead, we need to create the necessary
conditions once we have made the decision to be just to animals. We have no
right to use and exploit animals.
And of course, whilst he is
changing these conditions for himself, he is also fighting for other prisoners
to be able to live their lives without inflicting violence on animals..
If you are not yet a vegan and you
think that “veganism is hard”, you should be inspired by Evcan’s
struggle. Veganism isn’t difficult; it’s rather easy. The
reason you believe it is difficult is because you haven’t been able to overcome
speciesism. Please go to www.HowDoIGoVegan.com for further information.
Who is Osman Evcan?
Since being accused of “membership of an illegal organisation” in 1992, he
became a vegan after adopting views of anti-oppression during his stay in
prison. Following Evcan’s hunger strike, which lasted for 44 days in 2011,
changes were made in the prison administration’s regulations that entitled all
vegan prisoners to receive vegan meals. At the beginning of last summer, after
Evcan was refused vegan foods due to arbitrary practices – following his
transfer to Kandira Prison-, he went on a 33-day hunger strike, after which he
won the right to be fed a healthy vegan diet. However, once again because of
the prison management’s failure to meet his needs due to their blasé attitude and seizing any vegan foods sent in from the
outside, on 10th November 2015, Evcan has gone back on his third
hunger strike. The conditions of Evcan’s demands include healthy foods
completely free from animal ingredients and animal use, and others relating to
basic human rights.
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