Abdullah Öcalan, and his fellow prisoners in Imrali Island F Type High Security Closed Prison, Ömer Hayri Konar, Veysi Aktaş and Hamili Yıldırım, have not been allowed to meet with their families and lawyers for 36 months. The international campaign "Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, a political solution to the Kurdish question" was launched on 10 October 2023 with simultaneous statements in 74 centres around the world in order to end the isolation in İmralı and ensure Abdullah Öcalan's physical freedom.

As part of the campaign, political prisoners in Turkey started a hunger strike on 27 November. The PKK and PAJK prisoners, who had previously stated that they would carry their hunger strike to a new phase as of 15 February if no steps were taken regarding their demands, postponed their decision due to the 31 March local elections. In a statement on 3 March, the PKK and PAJK prisoners announced that, “Our hunger strike action has shown the need to evolve to a new stage as of 4 April, the birthday of our Leader. As prisoners, our decision to boycott the colonial courts, whose racist, discriminatory and fascist features are highly exposed and who do not even recognise their own laws when it comes to Kurdish reality, and to reject weekly phone calls and family visits has been shaped as a result of this need.”

Speaking to ANF about the PKK and PAJK prisoners' decision to boycott the courts and not to attend phone, family and lawyer visits as of 4 April, DEM Party MP Serhat Eren said, "Isolation is a system where not an iota of law is applied. All the peoples of Turkey are falling into the black hole of isolation."

The process of lawlessness started with the abduction and captivity of Öcalan

Eren noted that the process of lawlessness started with the abduction and captivity of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan in violation of the rules of international law. Remarking that the prisoners are protesting against the isolation and lawlessness system embodied in İmralı and that their demands are justified, Eren said that the isolation and lawlessness against Abdullah Öcalan is operated as the most important pressure mechanism seeking to eliminate the Kurdish people's struggle for freedom.

Eren said, "This determined struggle of the prisoners shows that the Kurdish people do not give up in their struggle and their resistance against all forms of pressure by the government. It is inevitable to return to the Dolmabahçe spirit for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. Political prisoners are courageously defending and leading the struggle for freedom today, as in every period, and are setting an example to the whole society for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, which is the only prescription for overcoming multiple crises."

As long as the isolation continues, the Kurdish question will remain unsolved

Defining the İmralı isolation system as the continuation of the insistence on a deadlock on the Kurdish question, Eren emphasised that as long as the isolation conditions continue, the impoverishment of society will deepen with war policies. The MP continued: "As long as the isolation continues, the Kurdish question will remain unsolved; all the policies of the state will be shaped through this war, and the people will become poorer and poorer while some people add riches to their wealth. Today, both the white-collar middle class and the poor, working peoples must grasp this reality. In a 2022 report prepared by the Democratic Progress Institute, headquartered in London, it was calculated that Turkey has lost 3 trillion dollars in the last 40 years due to its preference for war policies in relation to the Kurdish question. In 2022, when the report was released, Turkey's national income was $905.5 billion, and its per capita income was $10,659. The cost of 3 trillion dollars, which corresponds to a colossal amount, does not include the year 2023. 3 trillion dollars is such a huge figure that, based on the data of 2022, this amount corresponds to Turkey's national income for approximately 3.5 years.”

The citizens of Turkey must now put a stop to the war

What could have been done with the 3 trillion dollars spent by insisting on war policies instead of a democratic and peaceful solution to the Kurdish question? Each of the 16 million pensioners could have been paid approximately 190 thousand dollars at today's exchange rate, i.e. 6 million liras. If the 3 trillion dollars spent on the war had been divided among Turkey's population of 85 million, each person could have been paid 35,295 dollars, or 1,125,000 liras. The citizens of Turkey must now put a stop to the war and to the insistence on the deadlock on the Kurdish question. In order to do this, everyone must speak out loudly that the isolation must be lifted. Our call for Turkey's society is to stand by the Kurdish people in their democratic demands without giving in to the state's threats and practices of 'don't touch, you will burn'. Unless we walk this path together, no people in Turkey can exist with their own identity and beliefs, and none of our rights and freedoms can be secured."

The so-called legal basis of the isolation is created by the judiciary

Emphasising that the prisoners' hunger strike drew attention to the need for the whole society to raise their voice against the İmralı isolation system, Eren said the following "At the current stage, their decision not to appear in the courts is a resistance against a judiciary that is not impartial and independent. All trials in Turkey today are formal trials. The best example of this is the Kobanî Trial. Tens of thousands of our comrades are in prison, held hostage by the instructions of the government. The so-called legal basis of the isolation is created by the judiciary, which works on instructions and has turned into a political authority. Mr Öcalan and his fellow prisoners are prevented from meeting with their families and lawyers by incessant disciplinary penalties. These decisions are not even notified to the lawyers, the appeal mechanisms are not properly operated, and the complaints made against these judges and prosecutors remain inconclusive. Isolation is a system where not an iota of law is applied. This black hole in the law is growing and spreading by creating extraordinary and exceptional circumstances in all cases. In a society accustomed to lawlessness, all violations are becoming commonplace. All the peoples of Turkey are falling into the black hole of isolation."