A protest demanding an end to the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), took place in the district of Kadıköy, close to Istanbul city centre on Sunday, but the police intervened and arrested several participants.
Organised under the banner “Freedom March”, the protest was aimed at demanding an end to Öcalan’s two-and-a-half years of incommunicado detention. The demonstration was initiated by Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to commemorate the 25th anniversary of what the Kurdish community sees as an international conspiracy against Öcalan, which led to his departure from Syria on 9 October 1998 and his subsequent arrest in February 1999.
The demonstrators have vowed to continue their struggle until there is a complete end to the isolation of Öcalan. They were blocked by police as they their way to the protest area, and a number were arrested. Among these were Esengül Demir, co-chair of the People’s Democratic Congress (HDK), and Narenciye Acar and Hanife Gümüş, members of the activist group Peace Mothers.
The police also stopped buses carrying people from neighbouring towns to Kadıköy to join the protest.
Surrounded by police officers, Green Left Party MP Burcugül Çubuk addressed the crowd: “You have to rebel against this oppression. We, who are demanding an end to isolation in prisons, are not the guilty ones. The guilty party is the AKP [Justice and Development Party] regime, which wants war and has intensified the isolation”.
Speaking under the police blockade, Cengiz Çiçek, co-speaker of HDP and Green Left Party MP, stressed that the end of Öcalan’s isolation is essential for the establishment of peace and freedom. Çiçek asked: “What kind of criminal law is being applied in İmralı Prison? Is İmralı an offshore island prison beyond the borders of Turkey? Where is İmralı? You must give Mr Öcalan’s family and lawyers the legal right to meet him.”
