Deputies of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) tried again to march in front of the Ministry of Justice in Ankara in protest against the aggravated isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. As on Monday, the police stopped the march at the exit of the parliament premises. The MPs then gathered in front of the parliament. HDP spokesperson Ebru Günay and MPs Feleknas Uca, Necdet Ipekyüz, Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, Muazzez Orhan, Abdullah Koç and Kemal Peköz issued a joint statement in front of the parliament building.

"INSISTENCE ON ISOLATION PERPETUATES INJUSTICE"

HDP spokesperson Ebru Günay raised the issue of the blockade, saying: "This is exactly the isolation we reject. MPs are representatives of the people's will and are being stopped in front of the parliament. The aim is to prevent the Ministry of Justice, the main body responsible for the judiciary, from being reminded of its responsibilities. We are confronted with a situation in Turkey where there is no justice and the will of the people is blocked. The insistence on the isolation policy prevents the realization of the will of the people and perpetuates injustice."

Günay recalled the many requests for a visit to Öcalan and continued: "We have been here for six days. Before that, a delegation led by our co-chairs applied for a visit, and before that a delegation led by Saliha Aydeniz. Two weeks later, we applied in groups, including our MPs, to the Ministry of Justice to visit Mr. Öcalan in Imrali. While we were making our requests, the lawyers also kept applying to go to the island to visit their clients after the CPT's visit to Imrali. We are persistent, the lawyers are persistent, but the Ministry of Justice insists that it is wrong. We still have not received a response to our requests. The Ministry of Justice has still not responded to the lawyers' requests for visits. From here, we address Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ once again: every single prison in Turkey falls under his jurisdiction. He and every bureaucrat in the ministry are responsible for any unlawful behaviour in the prisons."

"ANY MEETING WITH ÖCALAN WILL PROMOTE PEACE AND DEMOCRACY"

Günay also pointed out the constitutional dimension of isolation and appealed to the Minister of Justice: "As the person in charge of the authority that is supposed to provide justice in this country, you are committing a crime if you insist on injustice and isolation. We call once again from here: Stop this crime. Any meeting with Mr. Öcalan means taking distance from the policy of isolation and war. Any meeting with Mr. Öcalan will serve peace, democracy and freedom in this country. That is what we stand for here. We remind you of this responsibility. It is the responsibility of all of us to create peace, freedom and democracy. The way to achieve this is also clear: contact of Mr Öcalan with the outside world, especially with his lawyers. The isolation in Imralı must be lifted. We have seen in the past how the situation in this country democratizes and becomes peaceful when the isolation decreases. We want to experience that again. We want to create lasting peace and democracy.

The demand is clear and simple. It is about the application of existing law. Today, as the third largest party in Turkey, we wanted to march to the Ministry of Justice to demand the implementation of the existing law. Unfortunately, we were prevented from doing so at the Dikmen Gate of the Parliament. This blockade is an obstacle to the will of the people, an obstacle to the establishment of law, an obstacle to the implementation of the Constitution. From here, we repeat our call not to insist on lawlessness and injustice and to take steps as soon as possible to allow family and lawyer visits to Imralı. We will continue our struggle and vigil until we get results."