The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on March 18, 2014 that PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's sentence of aggravated life imprisonment without the right to conditional release (right to hope) is a “violation”. However, despite the 10 years that have passed, Turkey has not made any legal arrangements in this regard. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which oversees the implementation of the ECHR's judgments, put the “right to hope” on its agenda at its most recent meeting on September 17-19 and gave Turkey until September 25, 2025. The Committee asked Turkey to make legal arrangements within this period. With Chair of Turkis Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahçeli's statements, the “right to hope” started to be discussed more in public. Bahçeli's demand that PKK Leader Öcalan “liquidate his organization” as a condition for the “right to hope” caused a reaction from legal experts.  

 

'FAILURE TO TAKE STEPS IS UNACCEPTABLE'

 

Fuat Coşacak, who was Abdullah Öcalan's lawyer in the past, stated that it is unacceptable that Turkey has not taken any steps despite the passage of 10 years. Stating that the parole decision was not implemented in violation of the law, “It is clear and obvious that Turkey should make a legal arrangement on this issue since it contradicts the ECtHR decision. The Committee, in its evaluation, will confront Turkey with serious sanctions and will decide to remove Turkey from the committee,” he said.  

 

Lawyer Fuat Coşacak

 

Pointing out that Turkey has the ambition to become a global power, Coşacak said, “It is obvious that if such a decision is given, it will be an extremely harmful result for the country, the law, which is already non-existent, will worsen from now on, and therefore the ECtHR decision will not be implemented in any way, and as a result, an extremely troubling situation will arise in terms of justice.” 

 

NON-IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RIGHT TO HOPE

 

Reminding that the ECtHR judgment is binding, Coşacak said: “If there is law, politics should be secondary. We think that it is extremely scandalous from a political point of view that the non-implementation of the right to hope is still under evaluation. We think that the law should be discussed. If there is a constitution in a country and the most imperative provision of the constitution is not implemented, there is a serious violation of rights and a legal failure.” Emphasizing that political motives were decisive in the non-implementation of the decision, Coşacak expressed his hope that Europe would act within the requirements of the law, not for political purposes. 

 

'ONE YEAR IS TOO LONG'

 

Emphasizing that the Committee of Ministers' one-year deadline for legal regulation is a long time, “When we look at the sentences that bind freedom, it is not acceptable to deprive a person of his/her freedom even for a day, let alone a year. We say that this period is too long. For this reason, we can say that it is urgent to make a legal arrangement to regulate the right to hope within the ECHR decision in a very short time, especially in terms of binding sentences, so that people are not deprived of their freedom” Coşacak said.  

 

Coşacak, pointing to Bahçeli's light on making a regulation by “putting forward conditions”, stated that the right to hope is a legal concept and that legal decisions should not be used in politics and said, “The right to hope is a legal right, it should not be sacrificed to politics.”

 

'THE RIGHT TO HOPE SHOULD NOT BE SACRIFICED TO POLITICS'

 

Drawing attention to the message that PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan conveyed 43 months later on October 23 with Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MP Ömer Öcalan, Coşacak said: “It is extremely important that he said that he has the role, power, theory and practice that will move the process from the environment of conflict and war to a legal and political ground when conditions are created. At this point, when there is such a power, not making use of that power is a form of mental eclipse. The process in the Middle East, the stage the Kurdish question has reached, reveals that this problem must be solved somehow and this is an essential problem.”

 

HOW CAN THERE BE A SOLUTION?

 

Emphasizing that the Kurdish issue is a global issue, Coşacak continued as follows: “It is actually a problem of humanity due to the violations of rights. We think that this must be solved somehow. If this is not done, it is obvious that negative and negative situations will arise. In Bahçeli's statement, there is an impression that this is partially seen. Of course, in politics, the solution to the Kurdish problem is not based on impressions, but on practice. What can happen in practice? First of all, the isolation of Mr. Abdullah Öcalan must be lifted, meetings must be held, health and security conditions must be established and comfortable working conditions must be created. When this is done, we think that this historical and painful problem will definitely result in an honorable peace.”

 

MA / Rukiye Adıgüzel