HDP deputies have decided to stage permanent action in front of the Ministry of Justice demanding the end of the isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and to allow lawyers to visit him.
Deputies of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have today launched a sit-in in front of the Ministry of Justice in Ankara demanding an end to the isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and an urgent visit to him in prison.
A delegation consisting of Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-Chair Berdan Öztürk and HDP deputies Ömer Öcalan, Feleknas Uca, Dilan Dirayet Taşdemir, Şevin Coşkun, Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, Sezai Temelli, Abdullah Koç, Nuran İmir, Hüseyin Kaçmaz and Erdal Aydemir took part in the march to the Ministry office and the sit-in that followed.
The delegation was stopped by the police near the Ministry of Justice. During the protest, the politicians carried banners reading "Isolation is a crime against humanity", "The law must be applied to Imrali" and "Let lawyers go to Imrali".
After a sit-in action outside the Ministry office, the delegation ended the first day of the protest.
HDP deputies will continue the rotating-indefinite action in front of the Ministry of Justice. They will stage a sit-in in front of the ministry at certain hours every day.
BACKGROUND
Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan has been kept in isolation in Imrali since 1999. There has been no news from him for the last two years.
Lawyers are requesting to meet with the Kurdish people's leader twice a week. However, applications for interviews are systematically left unanswered. In some cases, months later, lawyers are presented with disciplinary action against their client as a justification for the rejection of their applications.
Recently, it was learned that after the ban on visits imposed on 13 April ended on 18 October. However, it was automatically extended for another six months.
Concerns over the situation of the Kurdish people's leader increased after the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) visited Turkey on September 20-29. In a statement on 3 October, the CPT announced that Imralı F Type High Security Prison was among the institutions it visited.
However, Asrın Law Office reported that during the CPT visit, they heard that there was no meeting with Abdullah Öcalan, and that this situation increased their concerns. Asrın Law Office made a statement on 29 November saying: "We have heard that Mr. Öcalan did not attend the meeting during the CPT's visit to Imralı Island in September 2022."
