HDP deputies took action to end the absolute isolation imposed on Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has not been heard from for nearly two years.

HDP deputies started a march to the Ministry of Justice, which remained silent despite the applications made against the absence of news.

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 a 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."