Sezgin Tanrıkulu became the first main opposition member to denounce the 44-month isolation of jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in the Turkish Parliament. Tanrıkulu, an MP for Diyarbakır (Amed) from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), declared the prolonged deprivation of contact with family and lawyers as a violation of human rights and Turkey’s legal standards. Addressing parliament on Wednesday, he argued that Öcalan’s treatment exemplifies Turkey’s failing commitment to a justice system based on the rule of law.
Tanrıkulu, who serves as deputy head of the Parliamentary Human Rights Inquiry Committee, stated that Turkey’s prisons, where “inhumane and discriminatory justice” prevails, are a clear indicator of the state’s lack of respect for human rights. He criticised the “enemy penal law” approach towards political and even non-political prisoners, stating that this systematic neglect is akin to a criminal record for the state. “Prisons are the state’s criminal record,” he asserted, adding that this approach particularly targets women, the elderly, and political detainees under oppressive conditions reminiscent of Turkey’s past military regimes.
Focusing on policies enforced in S and Y-type prisons, Tanrıkulu accused the government of imposing arbitrary transfer policies that isolate detainees from their families, aggravating their hardships. He highlighted cases of elderly or ill prisoners denied release despite their conditions. “You subject many elderly, non-political detainees to these conditions simply due to their affiliations, sentencing them to a slow death in prison,” he said, urging an end to these practices.
Calling for parliament to investigate, Tanrıkulu emphasised the unacceptability of a tailored isolation regime for Öcalan, arguing that no prisoner should be denied basic rights such as access to family and legal counsel. Citing a recent Constitutional Court decision affirming inmates’ right to legal visits, he stressed that the government’s treatment of detainees contradicts the pursuit of a democratic, lawful state.
