An international delegation consisting of journalists, parliamentarians and representatives of political parties visited Asrin Law Office, the official advocate of Kurdish Leader Abdullah Öcalan who is held in aggravated isolation in İmralı Island Prison.

Lawyers Raziye Öztürk, İbrahim Bilmez and Rezan Sarıca from Asrin Law Office received the delegation at their office in Istanbul and emphasised the importance of solidarity under the conditions of aggravated isolation in İmralı.

Noting that Öcalan is not an ordinary prisoner and is an important actor for the solution of the Kurdish question, İbrahim Bilmez said: “No news could be received from Mr. Öcalan for years. On 23 October, Ömer Öcalan, a DEM Party MP and Abdullah Öcalan's nephew, went to İmralı and held a meeting. This meeting does not mean that the isolation is over, the isolation continues.”

Bilmez drew attention to the attempts to create a perception of ‘process’, referring to the government partner MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s recent remarks over possible talks with Öcalan “to end terror”. Underlining that psychological warfare methods are being used in the current process, Bilmez said, “The state produces fake news using the media. News such as ‘Mr Öcalan has been met or will be met’ are constantly published, but all of these are untrue and aimed at molding a false perception. One of the most important reasons why Mr Öcalan maintains his power as a strong actor in the Kurdish issue is that the Kurdish people stand behind him and the friends of the Kurdish people show solidarity.”

Referring to the fact that Öcalan left Syria in search of a peaceful solution and the PKK declared a ceasefire to this end, Bilmez said that Öcalan’s attempt for a solution was responded with an ‘International Conspiracy’. Talking about what happened during the conspiracy process, Bilmez said: “Mr Öcalan did not give up his search for peace. A unilateral ceasefire was declared from 1999 to 2004 and Turkey was able to make many reforms in this process. The state pretended that the Kurdish issue was resolved in that period, but the Kurdish question was still there and we have been going through a long process since 2004. The state's approach to the Kurdish issue is flawed. They say that there is no Kurdish issue if there is no armed conflict, but this is wrong. The Kurdish issue is about the collective rights and status of the Kurdish people. Mr Öcalan is also struggling for this.”

Pointing to the recent developments in Syria, İbrahim Bilmez said, “On one side, there are Kurds and their friends who are trying to build Mr Öcalan's paradigm, and on the other side there is ISIS, the jihadist system. With Turkey's provocation, the dark forces have mobilised. It is a war against the darkness in the name of all humanity, so the Kurdish people should not be left alone. Supporting Mr Öcalan means a democratic solution for the Middle East. For this reason, we need to fight against isolation. We do not expect anything from the states, our expectation is the solidarity of the peoples in Europe. We think it is important to increase international solidarity.”

The talks during the visit recalled that the CPT had not announced its report on the İmralı visit, and highlighted the importance of fighting against isolation through the work of the international delegation in their own countries.