ISTANBUL - Stating that they sent a letter with the signatures of 775 lawyers to the Ministry of Justice for PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, ELDH Deputy Secretary General Thomas Schmidt said: "The whole world knows about the isolation and the isolation must end."

 

775 lawyers from Turkey and Kurdistan applied to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, with the request to meet with PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and prisoners Veysi Aktaş, Hamili Yıldırım and Ömer Hayri Konar between 10-17 June, who are held under aggravated isolation in İmralı Type F High Security Prison. 

 

Following the application of the lawyers in Turkey, 350 lawyers from 22 countries made the same application on September 14 and 691 lawyers from Northern and Eastern Syria and different regions of Syria filed another applications on September 19.

 

The Association for Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) held a press conference at the building of the association in Beyoğlu, together with many lawyers from various European countries. Signatory Fabio Marcelly from Italy, Deputy Secretary General of the European Union of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) Thomas Schmidt, lawyers of Asrın Law Office and ÖHD Co-Chair İlknur Alcan, as well as many lawyers attended the meeting.

 

LAWYERS CONDEMNED THE'ABSOLUTE ISOLATION'

 

Stating that there is absolute isolation in İmralı and reminding that, apart from exceptions, no family or lawyer visits have been made since 2011. ÖHD Co-Chair İlknur Alcan said: "We no longer consider the imposed isolation as isolation, but as isolation within isolation, that is, as absolute isolation. Prisoners held on Imrali Island are not benefited any rights."

 

'EUROPE CONDONES ISOLATION'

 

İbrahim Bilmez, one of the lawyers of Asrın Law Office, said: "No lawyer can speak with Mr. Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners today. Normally, the prisoners have phone calls rights in the European system and in many parts of the world, but the last phone calls with Öcalan was in March 2021. There has been no news from that prison until today. There is no news of such a prison. It is not possible for it to be in London or Paris. But this prison exists in Imrali. Unfortunately, all European legal institutions condone this great unlawfulness."

 

LETTER SENT TO THE MINISTRY

 

Giving information about their initiatives, ELDH Deputy Secretary General Thomas Schmidt said: "We are working for the access of lawyers not only in Turkey but also in many parts of the world. But we are working for Abdullah Öcalan in Turkey. There is a letter we wrote to the Ministry of Justice, which is politically authorized for this situation." Schmidt then read the letter written to the Department of Justice.

 

'THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS ABOUT THE ISOLATION'

 

Answering journalists' questions, Schmidt said: "European countries did not carry out any work on lifting the isolation against Abdullah Öcalan, but the European peoples were aware of this isolation. Abdullah Öcalan's paradigm is known by all the peoples of the world."