İSTANBUL - Recalling the statements of the Minister of Justice in 2019 when Öcalan met with his lawyers as a result of the hunger strikes, lawyer Rezan Sarıca said, "Why don't they stand behind these statements today?" 

 

The hunger strike in prisons against the isolation on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and the increasing violations of rights in prisons entered day 216 today. The petitions submitted by the family and lawyers of Öcalan to meet with him have been left unanswered so far. 

 

As a result of the 200-day hunger strike initiated by Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Co-chair Leyla Güven, Öcalan met with his lawyers on May 2, 2019, 8 years later. After the meeting, the Minister of Justice and politicians claimed that there was no obstacle in front of visiting Öcalan.

 

MINISTER GÜL: THERE ARE NO OBSTACLES IN FRONT OF VISITING ÖCALAN

 

Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül, in a statement on May 16, admitted that it is a legal right for detainees to meet with their lawyers and said, "There was a decision of restriction before. These restrictions have been lifted. These decisions regarding the ban on meeting with Öcalan were lifted and the opportunity to meet him was introduced. There are no obstacles in front of meeting with Öcalan now."

 

SECOND STATEMENT OF THE MINISTER 

 

The second meeting with Öcalan was held on May 22, 2019, upon the application of lawyers. In a statement he made on May 24, Minister Gül argued that the reason for allowing the meeting had nothing to do with the Istanbul elections or the "solution process" and said, "With the court decision, the legal obstacle in front of any meeting has been lifted. A meeting within this framework is a visit."

 

HUNGER STRIKES ENDED

 

The lawyers shared Öcalan's message which they recieved on May 22 during the meeting, on May 26 with the public. The hunger strike ended with the open call of Öcalan. After this date, on 12-18 June and 7 August 2019, lawyer Rezan Sarıca and Newroz Uysal went to İmralı and met with their clients. While Öcalan gave the government a chance to solve the Kurdish problem in every meeting, the government once again squandered it.

 

APPLICATIONS LEFT UNANSWERED

 

While the applications made by the lawyers after this date were left unanswered, the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office imposed a 6-month ban on lawyers on September 23, 2020, on the grounds of the "Road Map" prepared in addition to Öcalan's defense submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2009. After this ban, applications made by lawyers were also inconclusive and it was revealed that Öcalan was given a new disciplinary punishment in January 2021. Although the ban ended on March 23, neither a positive nor a negative response to the applications made by the lawyers were received.

 

LAWYERS SUBMITTED 225 APPLICATIONS FOR A VISIT

 

225 applications have been submitted by the lawyers to meet with Öcalan after the meeting on August 7, 2019. Rezan Sarıca, one of the lawyers of Öcalan told that they submitted a new application everyday. Stating that the applications were not usually answered, Sarıca said sometimes decisions of rejection were recieved based on some court orders.

 

ARBITRARY AND ILLEGAL

 

Sarıca said: "We have a constant request to meet with Mr. Öcalan. These court decisions are not legal. The politics and state structure in Turkey reflects to İmralı as isolation. It was arbitrary and illegal."

 

SAME GOVERNMENT STRATEGY

 

Evaluating the political atmosphere in 2019, when the lawyers were able to meet with Öcalan, Sarıca said: "“There is no difference between the political atmosphere of that day and the current political atmosphere as a strategy of the state. It is obvious that the state acts with the same objective and plan. The only thing that changes from time to time is the language of the government and the tools they use. Looking back at 2019, there was an ongoing hunger strike, and it lasted for 200 days. It caused an outcry in the public. The people demanded to have a voice and use their democratic rights both in prison and outside. And there was an upcoming election. Looking back at the discourse of the government and the Ministry of Justice, we see that they were just sugarcoating their cold hard facts without changing their political objectives."

 

THEY ARE VIOLATING THE CONSTITUTION

 

Stating that there was a government that day that has to consider the social reality, Sarıca continued, "In this sense, they had to declare to the public the rights that the law recognizes. A prisoner can meet with their lawyers. This is a constitutional right the government had to acknowladge and declare to the public. They had to accept the social reality and spoke in a softer tone. But it was temporary. They started to show their real colours after that day. Now there is an hunger strike again, and it has exceeded the limit of being concerning. Why aren't they standing by their words from back then? Why are they violating the constitution and the law?"

 

Emphasizing that the century-old policy of denial and rejection is in effect and that the main source of this policy is constitutional, Sarıca said: "There is Mr. Öcalan on one hand who recognizes the law and the existance of the Kurds, who tries to lead a way to a libertarian and egalitarian constitution that will ensure the democratization of Turkey, and tries to build a democratic life. The government's changing the political means of use, trying to win both the discourses that accept the social reality and the elections, is not with an understanding that really thinks about the society. It is trying to guarantee its own existance and maintaining its power. Approaching Mr. Öcalan instrumentally will not give any results.  Today, a political power that rejects the diversity of society continues to exist. But it is in fact in crisis."

 

'ÖCALAN'S IDEAS MUST BE ACKNOWLADGED'

 

Underlining that imposing isolation on Öcalan is the only way the government can maintain itself, Sarıca said: "They want to prevent Mr. Öcalan, who embodies the representation of both social awareness, social freedom and peace, from reflecting his potential to the outside world and society. Mr. Öcalan invites social reconciliation and calls for the freedom and future of the society to be built through democracy. Therefore, it invites us to a legal and democratic ground that will provide the possibility of a democratic politics. This is why he told he wanted to meet with his lawyers in person when he was called by his brothers from the prosecutor's office. Doing that, our client underlined that the ban on him to meet with his lawyers is illegal.  Mr. Öcalan stated that the isolation was related the struggle for peace. We think that the fact that he wants to meet with his lawyers and his ideas to be acknowladged, must be taken into consideration.

 

MA / Diren Yurtsever