WAN - Stating that their initiatives against the isolation of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan will continue, ÖHD member Veysi Güneş said: "The approach to Mr. Öcalan is the approach to the Kurdish issue, the status of the Kurds, and democratization in Turkey."

 

PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in isolation in İmralı Type F High Security Prison since February 15, 1999, when he was brought to Turkey. There has been no news from PKK Leader Öcalan since his interrupted phone call with his brother Mehmet Öcalan on March 25, 2021. The reason for the absolute isolation in Imrali is "disciplinary punishments", the reason for which is not disclosed. Various actions and events are being held to demand news from Abdullah Öcalan and to ensure his physical freedom.

 

Many people, including politicians, intellectuals, human rights defenders, journalists and non-governmental organizations, recently called for the end of the isolation and the political solution of the Kurdish issue. On November 27, a rotating hunger strike was launched by political prisoners in prisons in Turkey and Kurdistan.

 

Veysi Güneş, one of the managers of the Van Branch of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), evaluated the Imrali isolation.

 

Veysi Güneş

 

'BREAKING THE CONNECTION OF THE KURDS WITH ÖCALAN'

 

Stating that the isolation has continued since the international conspiracy, Güneş said: "It is useful to say the last thing that needs to be said first; they tried to create a gap between the Kurdish people and the truth. They tried to cut the Kurds' connection with the truth with the conspiracy. By arresting Mr. Öcalan, the Turkish state tries to break the connection of the Kurds with Öcalan."

 

Reminding Abdullah Öcalan's assessment that "No matter what anyone does, the bond between the Kurds and Öcalan will never be broken", Güneş said: "This truth imposes itself. The ownership that has never happened for any leader has happened for Mr. Öcalan today. Hundreds of people set their bodies on fire, for the sake of hundreds of people. This actually means that there is a close bond between Öcalan and the Kurds. The main reason for the implementation of an uninterrupted isolation system is to end the search for truth among the Kurds."

 

Emphasizing that isolation is a crime, Güneş said: "This isolation aims to suppress Abdullah Öcalan's struggle for peace and democracy. There is not only an individual isolation in the person of Mr. Öcalan. The isolation implemented in the person of Öcalan also manifests itself in the cultural, political and legal fields today. These are policies made to integrate the Kurds into the system."

 

APPLICATIONS WILL CONTINUE

 

Drawing attention to the applications made by lawyers, bar associations and politicians to meet with Abdullah Öcalan, Güneş said: "The applications were not returned. My associations also have initiatives to bring isolation to the agenda. In this context, we have an isolation bulletin that we organize every month. In addition, we will make applications to bar associations, TBB and the Ministry of Justice. The Union of Bar Associations and the Ministry of Justice are very technical about the isolation system. They see it as a simple incident when it comes to preventing the exercise of a legitimate right; however, we will do more effective work."

 

MA / Ruken Polat - Mazlum Engindeniz

 

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