The last time Fatma Öcalan saw her brother Abdullah Öcalan was three years ago. And it has been more than a year since Mehmet Öcalan visited his brother in Imralı High Security Prison. He is the last person that saw the Kurdish leader.

After reports emerged about health of Abdullah Öcalan, his family appealed to the prosecutor’s office in Bursa and Ministry of Justice for a permission to visit him. Neither the prosecutor nor the ministry responded to the appeal of the family.

The Kurdish leader’s sister Fatma Öcalan expressed her concerns about the health of her brother and said that although she can’t walk right now she is ready to visit her brother in wheelchairs.

“I want to see my brother. I want to hear from him. I want to know if he is alive. We could meet him in the past even though rarely. But now neither we as his family nor others can see him. The government doesn’t give permission” she said.

Fatma Öcalan recalled her visits to Imrali and said that Öcalan was constantly talking about peace and felt sorry for the people who were killed during conflict.

Sister Öcalan, who visited Imrali three times, said: “I was overwhelmed when I visited him. I thought that we would always see each other and we could visit him. But they (Turkish authorities) didn’t give permission. Now we can’t go there (Imrali) for the past three years. We don’t even know if he is alive.”

Öcalan’s lawyer’s last visit to Imrali took place more than 6 years ago on 27 July 2011. The Imrali delegation which was formed during the informal peace negotiations, last visited the Kurdish leader on 5 April 2015. The Turkish authorities constantly reject appeals by Öcalan’s family, lawyers and Imrali delegation’s appeal to visit him in the high security prison.