Concern is growing for the state of health of Mr Abdullah Öcalan. Fabio Tarantino, mayor of the city of Martano in Italy, has issued a statement demanding clarity about the health situation of the Kurdish people’s leader. Martano had awarded Öcalan with honorary citizenship and the mayor said in the statement that “the regime of isolation imposed on Öcalan for the past 22 years is inhumane. The rumours spread on social media on 14 March are part of the strategy of war used by the Turkish state against Kurds. This is the psychological component of such war. We want to know the situation of Öcalan and we demand a visit be granted to his lawyers.”

The mayor also joined the campaign “The Time is Now” and sent a letter to Mr. António Guterres
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr. Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Committee Against Torture.