There has been no news from Abdullah Öcalan for over two years. The last contact with the Kurdish leader was on March 25, 2021, when he was able to talk very shortly with his brother Mehmet Öcalan. The short phone conversation happened about a year after a previous call, on 27 April 2020, and it was the first time since then that Öcalan had actual contact with someone outside.

Lawyers of Öcalan were able to meet their client on May 2-22, June 12-18 and August 7, 2019, for the first time in 8 years. Since August 7, 2019, all applications requesting a visit have gone unanswered.

Hundreds of refugees from Turkish-occupied Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) and residents of Ain Issa staged a march on Sunday to protest the isolation regime imposed on Öcalan, chanting the slogans Bê Serok jiyan nabe” (No Life Without the Leader) and “Bijî Serok Apo” (Long Live Leader Öcalan).

The march was followed by a rally where Hedle Hec Muslim, a member of the North-East Syrian women’s umbrella organization, Kongra Star, addressed the crowd, saying: “The Turkish state has been subjecting Leader Abdullah Öcalan to aggravated isolation for over two years. In doing so, it is trying to crush the will of the leader because peoples who demand freedom base on his ideas on the path to achieve freedom, justice and democracy.”

The Kongra Star member criticized the international silence about Öcalan’s isolation and called for enhanced struggle for his freedom.