Activists who joined last year’s hunger strike for Abdullah Öcalan held a press conference in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg city of France today.

The press conference was attended by MEPs Momodou Malcolm Jallow, Roberto Rampi, Constantinos Efstathiou and Gökay Akbulut, former HDP MPs Faysal Sarıyıldız and Nursel Aydoğan, as well as activists who joined the hunger strike in Strasbourg, Hüseyin Yıldız who joined the protest in the Hague and and Mustafa Tuzak who joined it in Germany.

The indefinite and non-alternating massive hunger strike protest demanding an end to the isolation of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan lasted 162 days.

“THE COE AND CPT MUST FULFILL THEIR DUTIES”

The press statement in the name of the activists was read by Gülistan Çiya İke who called on the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to fulfill their promises and duties.

Ike recalled they they had ended their protest following the promises made by the CoE and CPT and the lawyers’ meeting with Öcalan, saying; "The inhumane measures on Imrali, the blackmail by the isolation policy implemented against Abdullah Öcalan, the isolation torture and the policy of breaking the will must be stopped. The Council of Europe and the CPT are the ones to do this."

The statement continued;

“The CPT is the only institution able to inspect all prisons in the member states of the Council of Europe. The Committee is therefore primarily responsible for solving problems such as isolation torture. We have held several meetings with the CPT as well as with representatives of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. Each time we were told that Abdullah Öcalan was being subject to a life in isolation and that this was an inhuman measure. In particular, the CPT Secretariat has assured us that it will make even greater efforts if we end our hunger strike. That was the reason why we stopped. We ended our action because of the promises of all these institutions.

As a result of the hunger strike, two lawyer meetings and a family visit to Öcalan took place. Since August 2019, all contact with Imrali has again been broken off. Requests for visits by the lawyers are not processed by the public prosecutor's office, family visits are prohibited on the grounds that disciplinary sanctions have been imposed on the Imrali prisoners.”

Remarking that the CPT and the Council of Europe have not kept their promises and have not fulfilled their tasks, acting not according to the legislation but international politics.

“If this was not the case, the The Turkish state would have either lifted the isolation or have been excluded from the Council of Europe on the proposal of the CPT. Turkey is encouraged in its crime against humanity by the compromising, hesitant and inconsistent attitude of the CPT which has thus been complicit in this crime. We call once again for an end to the torture system at Imrali and for the CPT to use its powers in accordance with international law."

CALL FROM MEPS

The press statement was followed by the speeches of members of the European Parliament.

Constantinos Efstathiou from Cyprus criticised the silence of international institutions on the isolation of Öcalan and expressed his trust that the righteous cause of the Kurdish people will win. He called on the Turkish state to abide by the international conventions it is a party to.

Roberto Rampi from Italy highlighted the Kurdish people’s fight against ISIS and said the world owed the Kurds. He called for justice for Öcalan and all other political prisoners and freedom for the Kurdish leader.

Momodou Malcolm Jallow from Sweden said; “You have fought for our freedom, and paid a price. Now, we must stand by you in the same way.” Jallow said they would take initiatives at the European Parliament for the Kurdish people and freedom for Öcalan.

German Left Party member Gökay Akbulut called for an immediate end to the isolation of Öcalan and urged the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and CPT to fulfill their tasks.