ARDAHAN - Drawing attention to the aggravated isolation imposed on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, lawyer Yaşar Kaya said: "The aim of the isolation is to prevent Öcalan's ideas from reaching the peoples of the Middle East and the world.

 

The isolation policy against PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is being held in İmralı High Security Prison, has been going on for 24 years. Öcalan, who was able to meet with his lawyers on August 7, 2019, was able to make a short phone call with his family on April 27, 2020. All applications made by Asrın Law Office to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for the purpose of meeting with their client Öcalan are either blocked on the grounds of various disciplinary penalties or the applications are left unanswered. While thousands of lawyers from many countries of the world have applied to the Ministry of Justice to meet with Öcalan, the ministry has not responded to the applications so far.

 

Evaluating the isolation policy towards PKK Leader Öcalan, lawyer Yaşar Kaya said: "The aim of the isolation is to prevent Öcalan's ideas from reaching the peoples of the Middle East and the world."

 

'ÖCALAN IS NOT AN ORDINARY PRISONER'

 

Describing the concept of isolation as "a practice against humanity", Kaya said: "The people are trying to isolate themselves from society and the world with the isolation. Öcalan is not an ordinary prisoner and that the isolation policy applied to him has a different dimension. Mr. Öcalan is a political personality, it is aimed to prevent his thoughts from reaching the peoples of the Middle East and the world. There is a status quo situation. This is a purely political situation. There is also a legal dimension to this. Our client has been in prison for 23 years and our client's lawyer family and guardian visits are blocked. The state has been preventing meetings by not complying with the penal execution laws for many years. Unfortunately, the current AKP government does not allow our client to exercise his rights and prevents meetings especially in recent years. The purpose of the isolation is to prevent Mr. Öcalan's ideas regarding the peoples of Turkey and the Middle East from the perspectives of politics and the future. Isolation is not only the physical detention of a person in prison, but also an obstacle to words and thoughts."

 

'KURDISH PROBLEM NEEDS TO BE SOLVED'

 

Stating that all policies in Turkey from economy to politics, from culture to life, war and immigration stem from isolation, Kaya said: “The Kurdish problem in this country needs to be resolved and we all know well that this is through democracy. The Kurdish problem cannot be solved without democracy in Turkey, and democracy cannot come without the Kurdish problem is solved. That's why we have to insist on peace. The lifting of the isolation also means a step towards democratization. When the isolation is lifted, Mr. Öcalan enters a period in which the peoples of Turkey and the Middle East think freely and the way is cleared for the building of peace. Significant progress will be achieved in moral, humanitarian and economic fields with the end of the isolation."

 

MA / Cengiz Özbasar