The Peace in Kurdistan Campaign sends a letter to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about threats to Abdullah Öcalan.

The letter said: "A few days ago, it was revealed that Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, who has been held on Imrali Island in Turkey for more than 24 years, had been in receipt of anonymous threatening letters delivered to his prison cell with the full knowledge and apparent approval of the Turkish prison authorities. The letter - or letters - included lurid accounts of how Öcalan was to be poisoned and killed."

The letter added: "The detailed reports, published by leading Kurdish organisations, must not be brushed aside as rumour or scaremongering. The letters amount to threats to Öcalan’s life and must be treated with the utmost seriousness and the response must show a sense of urgency. 

Reports of threats to any prisoners must be fully investigated and the responsible agencies have a duty to establish the facts that are the basis for the allegations.

Peace in Kurdistan condemns in the strongest possible terms any threats to Abdullah Öcalan, and we add our voice to those calling for a full and proper investigation into this latest incident."

The letter continued: "We support the demands for an urgent mission from the UN to visit Abdullah Öcalan in Imrali. The Council of Europe and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture must stop its vacillating and act without delay.

While held in custody, all individuals deserve a level of protection and should not be subjected to any form of threats at all. The safety of each prisoner should be guaranteed irrespective of who they are. That is a basic requirement of any justice system and there are international institutions created to ensure that codes of behaviour and standards of treatment are adhered to." 

Peace in Kurdistan said: "But Abdullah Öcalan is no ordinary prisoner. He is a political leader of a national movement who commands the deepest of loyalties of millions of Kurdish people with support for him strong among the younger generation who have no personal memories of a time when Öcalan was not being held in prison.

Peace in Kurdistan has repeatedly insisted that Öcalan must be seen as a political leader and, in fact, we have consistently called for him to be freed, convinced that he has a positive contribution to make to achieving a lasting peace settlement that will bring an end to the unresolved conflict between Turkey and the Kurds. The new reports of threats to his life are deeply concerning and risk a dangerous turn of events if anything were to happen to endanger Öcalan.

Kurds will never rest until their fears are assuaged about Abdullah Öcalan’s state of health and the consequences of any inexplicable harm being done to him in prison would be quite calamitous for social peace inside Turkey and with possible far-reaching ramifications that would be hard to calculate."

The letter said: "The concern for Öcalan is compounded by his isolation and the exceptionally punitive treatment meted out over the years of his detention, including in particular the evidence of an attempted poisoning incident that came to light in March 2007 when chemical substances were intended to cause him serious harm.  This incident was investigated by laboratory tests after a small sample of Öcalan’s hair was brought out of the prison.

These latest reports have echoes of that past incident because the threatening letters apparently mention the use of poison. This incident is once again causing the gravest consternations among Kurds and their supporters. The safety of Abdullah Öcalan must be guaranteed." 

Over the recent period, Abdullah Öcalan has been kept in continued total isolation for a period of 28 months without ever seeing any visitors or even being allowed to communicate with his closest relatives or his lawyers. Under these circumstances, nobody knows a single thing about Öcalan’s present state of mental and physical health.

Peace in Kurdistan said: "This is simply unacceptable by any standards. It is unconscionable that President Erdogan and Turkey are feted and lauded by their allies on the global stage, while inside the country’s prisons apparent abuses are being sanctioned.

Such unnecessary punitive isolation that Öcalan is subjected to amounts to intolerable inhumane treatment or torture. How Öcalan is being treated is a stain on Turkey and those who support it are effectively condoning state torture. No other prisoner held in Turkey is treated in the way that Öcalan is being treated. The latest reports add to the injuries that Öcalan is forced to endure and cannot be ignored."

Peace in Kurdistan called on "all governments to make representations to Turkey and for the relevant authorities who have powers to intervene to exercise their powers by acting now."