SARYA DENIZ

News Center- Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in the İmralı F-Type High Security Prison for years. His lawyers met him five times in 2019 after political prisoners staged a hunger strike across the country. But actually, he has been prevented from meeting his lawyers since 2011. Abdullah Öcalan has also been prevented from meeting his family members; he had a phone call with his family members on March 25, 2021. However, the phone call was interrupted after a short time. Since then, no news has been received from him. A delegation from the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) visited Imrali and announced that they had met Abdullah Öcalan. On November 29, 2022, the Asrın Law Office issued a written statement and said that Öcalan had not met the delegation.

9 visits from the CPT in 23 years

The CPT has visited the Imrali prison only nine times in the last 23 years. The first visit of the CPT to the prison was in 1999 on 27 February- 3 March. The second visit was on 2-14 September 2001, and then on 16-17 February 2003, 19-22 May 2007, 26-27 January2010, 16-17 January 2013, 28-29 April 2016, 6-17 May 2019 and its last visit was on 20-29 September 2022. After the last visit, the CPT announced that they had met with Abdullah Öcalan and three other inmates, Hamili Yıldırım, Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş. On November 29, the Asrın Law Office issued a written statement. According to statement, the delegation from the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) might not have met Abdullah Öcalan during the last visit. 

‘We are concerned about both his health and his life’

No information has been received from Abdullah Öcalan for 20 months despite the applications of his family members and lawyers. NuJINHA spoke to Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, one of the members of the HDP delegation who applied to visit Abdullah Öcalan, about the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan.

Underling that the isolation has been imposed on Abdullah Öcalan since February 15, 1999, Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said, “This unlawful practice has been imposed on him for years. No information has been received from him for 20 months. We are concerned about both his health and his life.”

 

Stating that the demands for visit and meetings with Abdullah Öcalan have been ignored for disciplinary and other reasons, Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said, “His lawyers are mostly not informed about such disciplinary penalties. Actually this shows that Mr.Öcalan is held hostage in Imrali prison. Turkey claims that it is a democratic state of law; however, it carries out inhuman and unlawful practices and isolation against Mr.Öcalan.

During the last phone call with his brother Mehmet Öcalan on March 25, 2021, Abdullah Öcalan emphasized again that he wanted to meet with his lawyers. Speaking about the demand of Abdullah Öcalan, Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said, “His demand actually drew attention to the unjust practices against him. He emphasized that he has legal rights like every prisoner in Turkey; he has the right to meet with his lawyer and family but his rights have been violated.”

The visit of the CPT

Speaking about the last visit of the delegation from the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), she said, “Mr.Öcalan did not meet the delegation in order to draw attention to the unjust practices against him because an isolation has been imposed on him for about 24 years. We see that the CPT is also a part of this unjust process, and the CPT ignores these unlawful practices to legitimize them. Normally, the CPT releases a report after every visit; however, it has not released a report about its last visit to the Imrali prison. The CPT has not taken a step despite the ongoing unlawful practices against Mr. Öcalan.”

Call on the CPT to make a statement

Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit called on the CPT to make a statement about its last visit to the Imrali prison. “We do not know anything about the health condition of Mr. Öcalan. The CTP must issue a statement to give information about the situation of Mr. Öcalan. All international organizations ignore the situation of Mr. Öcalan as well as the Kurdish question. Their silence against isolation, which is a crime against humanity, shows that they are a party to this crime.”

‘The isolation is imposed on all people’

Emphasizing that the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan is also imposed on all people, Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said, “The votes of the AKP decreased in the June 2015 general election. For this reason, the AKP ended the peace process and started operations against the Kurds both in Turkey and in North and East Syria. Today, isolation is a method of the AKP. An isolation is imposed on Mr. Öcalan and a war is waged against the Kurds by the AKP-MHP government.”

‘Face-to-face meeting must be arranged’

Talking about their application to meet Abdullah Öcalan, she said, “A face-to-face meeting with Abdullah Öcalan will relieve the concerns. A face-to-face meeting with Mr. Öcalan must be arranged. The government and Ministry of Justice will be responsible for everything that might happen.”