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The Irish World Hunger strikers in Turkey have agreed to a proposal which could see the Irish government play a crucial role in mediating their conflict with prison authorities, The Irish World has learned. 36 people have died in the hunger strike over jail conditions, which supporters say is modelled on the 1981 H-block struggle in Ireland. Members of the Irish Republican Socialist Party have met prisoners' representatives in London and agreed a plan which they hope will produce a breakthrough in the dispute. The IRSP is seeking a meeting with the Irish government at which they will propose that the government intercede with the Turkish authorities. The IRSP then hope to meet Turkish prisoners as a group in the presence of Irish diplomats, to receive a list of demands which the Irish government would then convey to its Turkish counterpart. The IRSP believes that the Turkish government could prove particularly susceptible to Irish pressure, because the country wishes to join the European Union and Ireland must still pass the Nice Treaty in order to allow enlargement to take place. Only this week, the Turkish parliament introduced 37 amendments to its militarily imposed constitution under EU pressure. However, the mediation plan could face difficulties because of Turkey's status as a key ally supporting US strikes in Afghanistan. The IRSP this week defended its links to left-wing parties in Turkey, as the overseas links of republican groups came under increased scrutiny in the wake of the arrest of three republicans in Colombia and the 11 September attacks on the US. "It's difficult in the present climate for everybody concerned, but a lot the people in prison in Turkey have been arrested for left-wing sympathies that would get two-thirds of students in Britain or Ireland arrested," a spokesman said. |