IHD Branch Chair Yılmaz says primary obstacle to solution is isolation

2024-11-01 11:22:07


	AMED - Stating that the meeting in İmralı after 43 months does not mean that the isolation has been lifted, IHD Amed Branch Chair Ercan Yılmaz said: “It is important to open dialog channels, but the actors should be in positions to play their roles here.” 

	PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in isolation in İmralı Type F High Security Prison for more than 25 years, was able to have a family visit after 43 months. Abdullah Öcalan, who met with his nephew Ömer Öcalan, a member of parliament for the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), on October 23 in İmralı, pointed out that the isolation still continues and said: “If the conditions are created, I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from the grounds of conflict and violence to the legal and political grounds.”

	 

	While discussions on the Kurdish issue, which is one of the top agendas of the public, continue, no steps have been taken apart from the statements of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its partner Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). 

	 

	Human Rights Association (IHD) Amed Branch Chair Ercan Yılmaz made evaluations on the Kurdish issue and isolation. 

	 

	'IT IS NOT A PRACTICE THAT LIFTS ISOLATION'

	 

	Yılmaz said that since the day Abdullah Öcalan was brought to Turkey, all his rights have been violated. Noting that the isolation policy initiated in İmralı has been reflected on all prisons and society in time, Yılmaz referred to the meeting held after 43 months of no communication and added: “This in itself is not a practice that lifts the isolation. We can talk about the lifting of isolation with the routine use of all the rights that a prisoner has access to, such as lawyer meetings, telephone calls and letters.” Yılmaz reminded that Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş, the other prisoners held in İmralı, are also being held in isolation and no news has been received from them.

	 

	Yılmaz pointed out that Abdullah Öcalan's calls to “stop the war” have found a serious response in the society. Yılmaz said that the “dialogue process” initiated with Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı in 2013 and ended in 2015 created a serious hope in both the Kurdish people and the people of Turkey, but that many people lost their lives and violations of rights increased in the clashes that started afterwards. Stating that the damages caused by the war in society should be made visible in all its dimensions, especially economic, social and human rights, Yılmaz said: “We need to be reminded again and again of the violations experienced in the last 9 years in relation to the Kurdish issue and we need to talk again and again about how the achievement of peace will make society breathe a sigh of relief.”

	 

	RIGHT TO HOPE 

	 

	Stating that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)'s 2014 ruling on Abdullah Öcalan's “right to hope”, which Turkey has not taken any steps on for 10 years, has been discussed in the public after MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli's statements, Yılmaz said: “Bahçeli's statement ‘The right to hope can be discussed if these, these, these conditions are met’ is exactly what we have been objecting to for years. None of the fundamental human rights can be conditional. We are talking about a fundamental human right. This right does not disappear when its subject is Öcalan or a person in prison for PKK membership. This right applies equally to everyone. Even a basic right to life is discussed according to who the subject is. This is very wrong. Let us emphasize once again that everyone living in Turkey should be equal in terms of rights.”

	 

	'SILENCE' REACTION TO CHP 

	 

	Stating that whether Erdoğan and Bahçeli are sincere or not can be revealed with practice, Yılmaz emphasized that Turkey needs a climate of peace. Underlining that the CHP has a great responsibility in this regard, Yılmaz added that the CHP has always been “timid” in defending fundamental rights and freedoms. Criticizing the CHP's silence on the ongoing isolation in İmralı, Yılmaz continued as follows: “It is very easy to discuss, defend, voice and prepare bills for the 'right to hope' after Devlet Bahçeli put it forward. The important thing is to talk about the values you really believe in and defend despite the government. What is important is that you oppose victim selectivity, that you say that the identity of the victim should not be taken into account, that you speak out before the government and its partner in power on the issue of isolation. The most important problem here is that the main opposition party has not made bold statements on this issue. The fact that human rights defenders, lawyers, physicians, journalists and academics are left alone on this issue makes them targets. Perhaps the main opposition party contributed to the fact that this issue remained unresolved for so long, and that a culture of human rights could not be established in Turkey, even if not directly, by remaining passive.

	 

	'TMK MUST BE ABOLISHED'

	 

	The Anti-Terror Law (TMK) needs to be abolished. There are still hundreds of thousands of violations caused by the Anti-Terror Law. It does not seem possible to democratize Turkey or solve the Kurdish issue without concrete and permanent work. The government needs to be sincere here. I think that civil society organizations should strengthen the hands of the political institution and society with their work here.” 

	 

	MA / Rukiye Adıgüzel