They claimed that the 15 activists' protest had "achieved its goals" after assurances were given by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe and European Parliament that Ocalan's case would be examined.

"We are now satisfied by the latest statements vowing that European institutions will take steps to end Ocalan's isolation," they said in a statement.

The activists had started their hunger strike on March 1 and set up camp in a Strasbourg church.

Their protest was supported by a string of marches, some of which attracted more than a thousand Kurds in front of the European institutions.

Ocalan, a founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), was jailed for life in 1999 and has been serving his sentence on Turkey's Imrali island, where he was long the only prisoner.

According to his supporters, he has not received a visit in more than eight months.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.

Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe.