URFA - Stating that the 6-month ban on attorneys imposed on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan is not independent of the attacks in Federated Kurdistan and North East Syria, Mehmet Öcalan said that the Kurdish Question cannot be solved by war.

 

The aggravated isolation on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, held in Imrali Island, has been going on for 23 years. Öcalan, who had an "interrupted" phone call with his brother Mehmet Öcalan on March 25, 2021, was given a new 6-month ban on attorney visits on April 13, before the previous ban expired. Öcalan's attorneys and family were not informed about the reason for the ban.

 

Mehmet Öcalan, who had an "interrupted" phone call with Öcalan on March 25, 2021, said that the new 6-month ban on attorneys is not independent of the attacks of Turkey and the groups it supports against Avaşîn, Zap and Metina in the Federated Kurdistan Region and Northern and Eastern Syria.

 

'BAN ON VISITS IS NOT LEGAL'

 

Stating that no information was given to the family about the ban, Mehmet Öcalan noted that the ban was not “legal and humane”. Stating that the PKK leader is being held in an island alone, Öcalan said, “What crime can a person who is held in the middle of the sea, in a cell between 4 walls, commit? These are artificial punishments. This ban is a reflection of the state's hostility against Mr. Öcalan and the Kurds.”

 

Underlining that, as family and attorneys, they apply to the necessary authorities to go to Imrali every week, but they do not receive an answer, Mehmet Öcalan said, “These bans are related to the attacks carried out all over Kurdistan. This is unacceptable.They used to find an excuse for these bans. They are not even doing that anymore. This is openly unlawful. Laws are trampled in Turkey. We will make objections and applications to the necessary institutions, and we will say 'apply the laws'."

 

'THE BAN IS IN LINE WITH THE ATTACKS'

 

Emphasizing that the decision taken against the PKK Leader is linked to the attacks launched by Turkey against Zap, Avaşin and Metina in the Federated Kurdistan Region with the support of the KDP, Öcalan said, “The ban is clealy linked to these attacks. Killing more people won't solve the Kurdis Question. The Kurdish question is a political issue. If dialogue is to be established with Mr. Öcalan, neither the soldier, the police nor the guerrilla will lose their lives. If Mr. Öcalan speaks, deaths will end. The state does not want this. Meet with Mr. Öcalan, let this bloodshed end. Mr. Öcalan is a glimmer of hope for the entire Middle East. The people who maintains their power through blood shed don't want that. Not resolving the Kurdish Question harms all peoples living in the Middle East.”

 

REACTION TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

 

Responding to the silence of international organisations against the unlawful policies in Imrali, Öcalan continued: “The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Ill-Treatment (CPT) has a  role in this unlawfulness. If they want, they can open the gates of İmralı. Everyone stays silent when it comes to the Kurds. International organisations that claim to defend human rights can put an end to this unlawfulness if they want to. Otherwise, they will be an accomplice in the attacks against Kurds. We must go to Imrali as soon as possible and this bloodshed must be stopped."

 

 

 

MA / Emrullah Acar