ISTANBUL -  Applying to the Ministry of Interior to meet with PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, ÖHD attorneys said:  "The disciplinary punishment was in response to our application. The law in Imrali has turned into a black hole."

 

PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in Imrali Type F High Security Prison for 23 years under aggravated isolation conditions is still prevented from meeting with his family and attorneys. Öcalan, with whom Asrın Law Office's attorneys last spoke on August 7, 2019, had an interrupted phone call with his brother on March 25, 2021. Applications made by Öcalan's family and attorneys are rejected on the grounds of disciplinary punishment. 775 attorneys, including 29 bar associations, who took action against the fact that Öcalan is held under complete inccomunicado, launched a petition and applied to the Ministry of Interior on June 10-17 against the attorneys' ban on Öcalan. However, the ministry has not yet responded to the attorneys' application.

 

Attorneys from the Association for Lawyers for Freedom(ÖHD), who applied to the Ministry of Interior to meet with Öcalan, evaluated the isolation and their application.

 

THE LAW IN IMRALI IS UNEXPLAINABLE

 

Stating that the attorneys of Asrın Law Office and ÖHD have made many legal attempts to apply for a meeting for a long time to end the isolation on Öcalan, but the authorities did not respond, ÖHD Istanbul Co-chair Gürkan İstekli said: "There is no way to explain the aggravated isolation on Öcalan within law, and this law of isolation is a purely political decision. Legal developments in Imrali operate as a ‘black hole’. Just as the black hole swallows whole planets in the universe, the black hole in Imralı swallows all legal initiatives based on humanity and morality. ”

 

THE ISOLATION IS FOR KURDISH PEOPLE

 

Recalling the harsh attitude of the police during the Gemlik March for Öcalan, where dozens of people were battered and detained, İstekli said: “The government does not even want to talk about the isolation.  Even asking about the health status of Mr. Öcalan has now been brought to the point where it would be considered a crime. The isolation policy was developed with the concept of war against the Kurdish people in the National Security Council of 2014. Since then, there have been thousands of arrests, detentions and deaths. The isolation policy imposed on Mr. Öcalan, also reflected to the society. This attitude of the state is actually applied to all Kurdish people who demand freedom and peace in the person of Mr. Öcalan. The isolation is also a message to the revolutionaries, democrats and intellectuals in Kurdistan and Turkey today.”

 

THERE IS NO ANSWER TO APPLICATIONS

 

Referring to the application made by 775 attorneys registered to 29 different bar associations to the Ministry of Interior to meet with Öcalan, İstekli said: "The main reason for this application was to bring the isolation to the agenda and break it. No official response has been received from the ministry until now, a new unlawful disciplinary punishment has been imposed to prevent the request to meet with Öcalan. The last three-month disciplinary punishment was in response to our application. As attorneys, we will continue to work towards the end of the isolation.”