İSTANBUL - PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was handed over to Turkey with a conspiracy after he took side with the peoples against the BOP, has been kept in isolation in Imrali Island for the last 22 years. His lawyer, Emran Emekçi, said that the crisis in law and justice directly linked to İmralı."

 

The Kurdish question, which emerged as a result of the denial  policy adopted since the establishment of the Turkish Republic and has a history of centuries, is still the primary fundamental problem of Turkey, which has left its mark especially in the last 40 years. The Kurds, who were tried to be annihilated by laws, prohibitions, massacres, forced displacement, murders committed by paramilitary structures, oppression and violence, struggled to protect their existence and identity against these policies despite heavy costs.

 

On one side of this problem is the state whose governments have changed, and on the other side is Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK, whom they had to sit at the table between 2013 and 2016. Öcalan has been kept in the High Security Type F Closed Prison built especially for him on Imrali Island since he was moved from Syria under pressure from international forces and handed over to Turkey on February 15, 1999. The isolation system built around Öcalan in İmralı, became the prototype of the system that the USA established in the Guantanamo camp in the following years.

 

ÖCALAN LAWS

 

Öcalan, who was able to meet with his family and lawyers from time to time in the first years in İmralı, started to be prevented from meeting with his lawyers for different reasons, with the enactment of the laws, known as the “Öcalan Laws” in the public, in 2005. In the following years, his family and lawyers were not allowed to go to Imrali, with the de facto steps in which the laws were completely revoked with the legal changes made specifically for him. So much so that only 442 of the 1,817 applications made by lawyers since 1999, were accepted. 437 of these applications are from before 2011. Since 2011, Öcalan has only been allowed to meet with his lawyers 5 times.

 

These 5 meetings were held as a result of the 200-day hunger strike that started in prisons under the leadership of DTK Co-Chair Leyla Güven in 2018. The applications of lawyers who were able to come together with their client Öcalan on 7 August 2019 for the last time, have not been answered since that day.

 

Emran Emekçi, one of the lawyers of Asrın Law Office, the defense counsel of Öcalan, evaluated the isolation against the PKK Leader and the reason of this isolation.

 

CONSPIRACY PUT INTO EFFECT

  

Underlining that the reason for the conspiracy against Öcalan was on grounds that Öcalan was a political actor in the Middle East, Attorney Emekçi said that Öcalan has a perspective in favour of the peoples of the Middle East. Emekçi told that the democratic union of the peoples of the Middle East was putting a spoke in US's and Britain's wheel and  and that anyone who pierces the status quo drawn by the USA and capitalist nation-states, especially the UK, has become a target.

 

Emekçi said that PKK Leader Öcalan had already been intervened on this basis, adding, “Their aim was to draw Öcalan into their own lines. There had already been many attempts and calls by the capitalist powers in this direction. Israeli and US ambassadors tried to persuade him to meet with him for the Greater Middle East Project (BOP). But Öcalan said: "I have a perspective in favour of the peoples, I am a freedom fighter. I'm not someone else's warrior. My paradigm is clear and I will never compromise.". Because of this stance, an international conspiracy was staged."

 

ISOLATION IN IMRALI WAS BEING DESIGNED

 

Emekçi said that before Öcalan was captured and brought to Turkey, psychologists determined by the Pentagon were working on the Imrali isolation system, adding that the system built was aimed at breaking Öcalan's will. Emekçi continued: “The characteristics of the island of Imrali was that it was an island where those who oppose the system were placed. Many political dissidents, from Yılmaz Güney to Adnan Menderes, were held here. The situation in İmralı Island causes the person to collapse physically and psychologically in a short time. Adnan Menderes, when he went to court for the first time after staying there for 6 months,, said; "I lost my ability to speak". It is not easy for a person to endure this system. There, they tried to break the will of Öcalan and force them to get in line with them. With the BOP project, a nation-state model was proposed to the Kurds. They wanted to trap and control all the Kurds there. Barzani and Talabani accepted this, but Öcalan stood against it. That's why there is still an attempt to continue the isolation."

 

THREE STAGES OF ISOLATION

 

Emekçi said that the isolation of Öcalan, who has been held in İmralı Prison for 22 years, consists of three stages. Stating that the first stage started from 1999 and lasted until 2005, Emekçi said, “At this stage, lawyers were relatively free to go to İmralı and hold meetings. His family was also able to visit him. Again, Öcalan was given his books within the framework of the rules." Emekçi said that the second phase of the isolation started with the "Öcalan Laws" enacted in 2005 and continued until 2015. Applications for interviews by lawyers began to be rejected on the grounds of 'adverse weather conditions', 'technical problems with the ship that goes to İmralı' and 'broken coasters'. In this process, Öcalan's books were taken from him, his bed was taken from his cell and his hair was shaved. His television or radio was always out of order. After 2009, he was taken out of the room he was in and taken to a narrower room.”

 

THIRD STAGE: ABSOLUTE ISOLATION

 

Emekçi underlined that the third period, which started in 20016, was the stage of "absolute isolation". Emekçi said that with this process, Öcalan's connection with the world was cut off. Emekçi said: "In the last 5 years, only 5 meetings were held. Other than that, our applications are left unanswered. Today, Öcalan's voice is completely cut off from the outside world."

 

LAWS HAVE BEEN CHANGED

 

Emphasizing that national and international law was bypassed in the person of Öcalan, Emekçi said that while his client should have been subject to the old penal code, this right was not recognized. When a law is enacted in Turkey, Emekçi underlined that the lawmakers first consider if Öcalan can benefit from it. Emekçi said: “Laws have been changed so that Öcalan will not benefit from them, prison execution laws have been changed. Even all amnesties were arranged so that Öcalan would not benefit. This situation also destroyed the independence of the judiciary. There is a crisis in law and justice in Turkey and it is directly linked to İmralı."

 

THE SOURCE OF PROBLEMS

 

Emekçi also stated that many of the problems experienced in Turkey today derive their source from the isolation imposed on Öcalan in Imrali and said, “Turkey will neither democratize nor the crisis and chaos will end without solving the Kurdish question. This is what they can't see. If the legal system in Turkey has gone this backwards, the prison execution system has gone this backwards, if the constitution has become this way, it is all so that Öcalan and the Kurds will not benefit from them. The coups and problems in Turkey are due to the fact that the Kurdish question has not been resolved. This issue is not an individual issue. The isolation in Imrali is an isolation against the democratization, peace, rule of law, independence of the judiciary and economy of the country in the person of Öcalan. This is a systemic issue. This is what has been going on since 1924. For a thousand years Kurds and Turks lived together in peace. Because then there was no denial of the Kurds. This crisis continues since this denial began. Solving the Kurdish question will give Turkey strength and energy. Mr. Öcalan once said, “The reason why Turkey did not come to a solution is the gendarmerie role that capitalist hegemony has assigned to it. They do not approach a solution because their will is dependent on hegemonic powers. Those who tried were erased from political ground."

 

 

MA / Ferhat Çelik