ISTANBUL - Stating that none of the CPT's meetings in Imrali changed anything, ÖHD lawyer Ferdi Yamar said: "The CPT and Turkey were partners in the 24-year isolation imposed on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan."

 

PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in Imrali Type F High Security Prison for 24 years in heavy isolation conditions. There is no news from Ömer Hayri Konar, Veysi Aktaş and Hamili Yıldırım, who have been held in the same prison with Abdullah Öcalan for more than 21 months. Even though the lawyers of Asrın Law Office, which is Öcalan's lawyer, routinely apply for family and lawyer meetings every week to meet with their clients, the meeting is prevented due to reasons such as "disciplinary penalties" and "barring of sight". Responding to the most recent application for family visitation on January 4, Bursa Execution Judgeship stated that Abdullah Öcalan was given a new disciplinary penalty and therefore a 3-month ban on family visitation was taken.

 

On June 10, 2022, 775 lawyers from Turkey applied to end these practices against Abdullah Öcalan. We talked to Ferdi Yamar, a member of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), who is among these lawyers, about the practice of isolation.

 

Ferdi Yamar

 

THE ISOLATION STARTED FROM DAY 1

 

Stating that the isolation in Imrali came into play when Abdullah Öcalan was brought into action with an international conspiracy, lawyer Ferdi Yamar underlined that the heavy isolation system did not start with the lawyers who have been blocked since 2011 and the family visit bans since 2019.

 

Drawing attention to the international dimension of the isolation, Yamar said: "The isolation policy in Imrali, which was built for Abdullah Öcalan and known as an 'Island Prison', is under the control of the state. The island conditions are clear and obvious. Keeping a person in a depopulated area is a state of complete isolation. The isolation began when Mr. Öcalan was brought to Turkey and kept on a specially built island. Due to the fact that the island is in a prison, access to it has always developed under state control and subject to state permission. After all, in order to meet Öcalan's family and lawyers in an island prison, first of all, transportation must be provided by a ship. Today, there is no question of passing by ship to any of the Turkish prisons. This situation has been isolated from the very beginning. Abdullah Öcalan's lawyers have been prevented from meeting with their clients since 1999. This isolation system in Imrali is unique in the world.”

 

HOW CAN THE ISOLATION BE LIFTED?

 

Pointing out that many groups of lawyers and mass organizations organized protests and made applications for meeting with Abdullah Öcalan, but there was no response on this issue, Yamar said: "The isolation spread to Turkey due to this situation. The state has not made any noise despite all the anti-isolation actions and activities to date, This style of action should also be opened for discussion. This is a situation that can only be created by the action of a strong mass of people."

 

'ABDULLAH ÖCALAN GIVES A MESSAGE'

 

Pointing out that the fact that Abdullah Öcalan did not meet during the visit of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), an internationally authorized institution, to İmralı in the last week of September, contained a “political” message, Yamar said: “I think Öcalan give a message to state and people because Mr. Öcalan's interlocutor is his lawyers. Mr. Öcalan's first contacts are his lawyers and his family. All the interviews that can be made with the exception of their lawyers have no reality. If a meeting had been held with the CPT, the CPT would have announced the outcome of this meeting. Öcalan did not meet with the CPT, he did not want to meet. It also reveals that all the negotiations were made through the state channel and that they were in contact with the state. At this point, the state is already in direct contact with the CPT, it is a partner.”

 

'ÖCALAN DOESN'T CONSIDER CPT AS A SOLUTION'

 

Stating that Abdullah Öcalan is being held as a “hostage” by Turkey and international powers, Yamar said: "The sincerity of the meetings of the structures within these powers should be the subject of discussion. Abdullah Öcalan's reason for not meeting with the CPT was that the fact that Abdullah Öcalan does not meet with the CPT means that he no longer considers the CPT as a solution."

 

CPT IS NOT THE SOLUTION 

 

Reminding that no meeting with the CPT has changed anything, Yamar said, “At this point, there are only procedural meetings. It can be seen as a hoax. The government uses it as a tool because the CPT can not choose problems. Öcalan's lawyers are the only people who can provide reliable information about Öcalan to the Turkish public and the world public opinion.

 

'ÖCALAN IS THE ONLY POWER WHO CAN END THE WAR'

 

Stated that Abdullah Öcalan displayed a relentless resistance against all these policies, Yamar said: “Everyone who wants peace in this country knows that; Öcalan has a historical mission. It is a force that can end the war. For this reason, all negotiations with Öcalan serve peace, not war. The voices of people who want peace should be listened to. The Turkish state is playing three monkeys at this point. It should be the voice of those who stop playing the three monkeys and want peace, so to speak.”

 

MA / Mehmet Aslan