The request of the attorneys Rezan Sarıca, Raziye Turgut, Serbay Köklü and Ibrahim Bilmez for a visit permit for their client Abdullah Öcalan has been rejected by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Bursa. The reason given was a six-month ban on visiting Öcalan and his three fellow prisoners on Imralı.

This is the first time that the prosecutor's office has responded to a visit request. Since the last visit of the lawyers to the prison island of Imrali in August 2019, all requests have simply not been answered. Between July 2011 and May 2019, no client meetings with Öcalan have taken place at all. The isolation could only be broken last year through the hunger strike initiated by Leyla Güven.

The Imrali Delegation, which was able to hold talks with Öcalan within the framework of peace negotiations, has not been allowed to visit the prison island since April 2015. Since the last visit of the team of lawyers on August 7, 2019, the Turkish authorities have not responded to any of the continuous requests for visits.

On September 23, Bursa 2nd Execution Judge prohibited visiting Öcalan and the other three prisoners in Imrali for 6 months.

The Turkish authorities use the "roadmap for negotiations" submitted to the European Court of Human Rights in 2009 as the justification for the ban on visits by Abdullah Öcalan's team of lawyers.

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