Prisoners Þeyhmuz Poyraz, Cumali Karsu, Hakký Alkan, Hasbi Aydemir and Bayram Kaymaz are held in Ýmralý High Security prison together with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. They have not been able to meet their families for a long time.

Felek Poyraz has not seen his brother Þehymuz for almost a year now. He says, “We are concerned about my brother’s and other prisoners’ safety. We do not know if they are sick or healthy, dead or alive.”

The families were called to go to the prison in the past months. However, they arrived to the prison they were told that the prisoners did not want to see them. Poyraz says this is a trick played by the authorities to show that in fact prison visits are free, is the prisoners who refuse to make use of their right.

Another prisoner’s mother Medine Kaymaz says: “I have no news of my son for a year. I do not know if he is dead or alive. The last time I went for a visit, they brought him up until the door but then closed the door. I could not even see his face. This is cruelty.”

The families decided not to go to the Ýmralý prison until Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan is allowed a meeting with his lawyers. Öcalan has not been able to meet his lawyers since 27 July 2011.