DİYARBAKIR - Stating that the condemnations to the situation of not hearing from PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan exceeded the borders of the country, Lawyer Mahmut Şakar said: “The Committee of Ministers cannot act as if there is no ECtHR decision because the ECtHR decision is about the area that the Turkish state calls an exception."

 

There has been no news for 18 months from PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and prisoners Hamili Yıldırım, Veysi Aktaş and Ömer Hayri Konar, who are being held under heavy isolation conditions in İmralı Type F High Security Prison. In order to break the isolation in question, hundreds of lawyers from all over the world applied to the Ministry of Justice to meet with Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners. 350 lawyers in 22 countries sent letters to the Ministry of Justice, European Bar Association, Turkish Bar Association and international human rights organisations on September 14. Later, 756 lawyers from Morocco, Palestine, Federated Kurdistan Region, Northern and Eastern Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan made a separate application to the ministry on September 19 under the leadership of the Arab Legal Initiative for the Freedom of Abdullah Öcalan. In the applications, it was emphasized that the deepened isolation violated the international conventions. Mahmut Şakar, the attorney of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, one of the signatory lawyers, answered our questions about the applications and roadmaps for the upcoming period.

 

HUNDREDS OF LAWYERS AROUND THE WORLD TAKE ACTION FOR ÖCALAN

 

Stating that it is important that hundreds of lawyers around the world take action for PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and 3 prisoners, attorney Mahmut Şakar said:"

The condemnations created by the absence of news for 18 months gradually crossed the borders of the country and caused a large part of it to condemn. The international condemnation against the isolation also reveals how wide a segment of the population understands both the isolation and the political mission that Mr. Öcalan represents. The fact that no news has been received from Mr. Öcalan and his friends since March 25, 2021 is actually an important issue not only for his family and lawyers, but also for the entire society and the international community. It has also begun to be better understood that the solution is to break the isolation and pave the way for a peaceful and resolving politics. From this point of view, I think that more serious and effective events will develop in the international arena."

 

THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS CANNOT ACT AS IF THERE IS NO ECtHR DECISION

 

Emphasizing that the Committee of Ministers did not take a sanction decision for Turkey's exemption from Öcalan's right to hope, Şakar said: "The ECtHR gave its decision in 2014;however, the Committee of Ministers put this issue on its agenda only on the date I mentioned, namely in 2021. We need to express that this delayed agenda is already an unserious behavior. The Committee of Ministers cannot act as if there is no ECtHR decision and cannot engage in an 'exemption' attitude anyway because the ECtHR decision is already related to the area that the Turkish state calls an exception. The main question is how seriously the Committee of Ministers will take the Turkish state to resolve this issue, whether it will allow this issue to extend over a period of time, and whether it will follow up on this issue until a fair solution is developed. You have to be careful in these matters. In particular, the Kurdish society, civil society, democratic sections and international legal circles need to monitor the developing process before the Committee of Ministers and put constant pressure on the Committee. I think that the assurance of the process is these segments.

 

MA / Eylem Akdağ