The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Şırnak MP Nevroz Uysal Aslan submitted an application to the Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission (İHİK) regarding the situation of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, Veysi Aktaş, Ömer Hayri Konar and Hamili Yıldırım, who are held in İmralı Island Prison and have not been heard from for 43 months.

The application said that: "Mr. Öcalan, whose role as a political interlocutor and power for a solution to the Kurdish question is indisputable, was last heard from on 25 March 2021. This was Abdullah Öcalan's intermittent phone call with his brother Mehmet Öcalan, which lasted a few minutes. Abdullah Öcalan's last meeting with his lawyers was on 7 August 2019 and no lawyer visit has been made since then. There was an uninterrupted ban on lawyer visits in the island prison for 8 years, from 27 July 2011 until 2 May 2019. In 2019, Mr. Öcalan was allowed to meet with his lawyers 5 times. After the last lawyer visit on 7 August 2019, this ban was imposed on Öcalan again uninterruptedly. All applications made by his family and lawyers against this practice and unlawfulness, which is unprecedented anywhere in the world, were repeatedly left inconclusive by the prison administration citing disciplinary penalties. This situation, which constitutes an exception even to lawlessness, has been continued by not notifying the lawyers of the administrative and judicial banning decisions, which are obligatory to be done so, and the lawyers have been prevented from even taking photocopies from the file.”

The application pointed to the report on isolation announced by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CTP) on 5 August 2020 and said, “The report defined the state of not receiving any news from İmralı Island Prison as “incommunicado”, that is, absolute non-communication, and stated that this situation is unacceptable. With an application dated 29 July 2022 by Mr. Öcalan's lawyers, the absolute isolation in İmralı Island Prison was also put on the agenda of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. On 6 September 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee took a precautionary decision regarding the application to ‘put an end to the incommunicado detention of the applicants and to allow the applicants to have immediate and unrestricted access to a lawyer of their choice’.”

Noting that the state did not fulfil its obligation regarding the decision taken by the Committee, the application further included the following: “However, the state and government officials did not fulfil the Committee's request for this measure. On the contrary, they responded to this decision with new arbitrary bans on family, guardian and lawyer visits and telephone conversations. Subsequently, as a result of the second application made by the lawyers due to the non-implementation of the injunction, the UN Human Rights Committee transmitted to Turkey its second injunction request dated 19 January 2023 to put an end to the incommunicado detention and to provide immediate and unrestricted access to a lawyer of their choice. However, this decision has not been implemented either.”

The application recalled that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe requested Turkey to provide information by 26 July 2025 on the follow-up of its recommendations on Abdullah Öcalan and 3 fellow prisoners, on the facilitation of their meetings with their families and legal representatives, and on the repeal of legislation that came into force during the state of emergency and affected the enjoyment of fundamental legal guarantees.

The application concluded: “In order to put an end to the violation of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment in İmralı Island Prison that has continued for a quarter of a century and to establish lasting peace and the rule of law in Turkey, it is essential that your Commission takes initiatives and develops solutions to end the legislation and practice contrary to international human rights instruments and standards.”