Deputies of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have been protesting against the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan in front of the Ministry of Justice in Ankara since 21 December 2022. Şirnak MP Nuran Imir, who is taking part in the vigil against the isolation, spoke to ANF about the importance of speaking out against this illegality. The protest will continue until contact is made with Öcalan.

“ABSOLUTE LAWLESSNESS AND ISOLITION”

The last sign of life from Öcalan was a telephone conversation with his brother Mehmet Öcalan in March 2021, which was interrupted for unknown reasons. The absolute isolation in the last two years is a continuation of the concept that has existed since Abdullah Öcalan was deported to Turkey in 1999, said the Kurdish politician Nuran Imir: "For almost two years, there has been no communication with Abdullah Öcalan at all. Of course, this goes back to 1999. During the solution process between 2013 and 2015, talks took place on Imrali, but apart from that, this system has been in place for a long time. In the past, visits to the prison island were prevented on the pretext that the boat was broken or the weather was too bad. Today, under the guise of disciplinary sanctions, there is absolute lawlessness and isolation."

In the last eleven years, the lawyers of Öcalan and his three fellow prisoners, Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş, have only been able to visit the island five times, Nuran Imir continued: "This was in response to critical events, for example when speculative news triggered public protests. Families have only been able to visit Imrali a total of five times in the last eight years. However, in the last two years, everything has been blocked and from time to time, due to public pressure, attempts are made to explain this through disciplinary sanctions."

REQUESTS FOR VISITS ARE IGNORED

Nuran Imir, like many MPs in her parliamentary group, applied to the Ministry of Justice for permission to visit Abdullah Öcalan before the start of the vigil. However, the request was ignored. "Both we and various democratic mass organisations have drawn attention to this special, anti-democratic lawlessness in which Mr. Öcalan is being held with numerous actions and events. We have said that this special law is against the existing legal principles, but the government ignores all this."

THE ISSUE ALSO HAS AN INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION

Beyond the legal and human rights aspect, contact with Abdullah Öcalan is of political importance for the whole country, Imir said: "This absolute isolation prepares the ground for very serious social problems and for negative and undesirable situations. The personality and position of Mr. Abdullah Öcalan is well known. His existence and influence in society cannot simply be erased, and the state is also aware of this. It knows that, with an evaluation from Imrali, the political blockade in the country could be broken. However, this is prevented by those who want to profit from war and chaos. We don't see this only as AKP policy, but we think that this also has an international dimension, because the international powers do not want stability in Turkey. Since 21 December, we have been demanding with our vigil that Abdullah Öcalan meet with his legal counsel. As HDP MPs, we will continue our protest until this demand is met."