“I salute our people’s enthusiastic embrace of the call for peace and a democratic society during Newroz. Once again, I extend my wishes for a blessed Newroz and Ramadan Bayram,” Abdullah Öcalan said on Monday during a rare family visit at Turkey’s İmralı F-Type High-Security Prison. His message was later shared by his nephew, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party MP Ömer Öcalan on X (formerly Twitter).
The visit, permitted on 31 March ahead of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, marked the first time since 2021 that Öcalan and three other inmates at İmralı have been allowed to see their families. His brother Mehmet Öcalan and nephew DEM Party MP Ömer Öcalan, were among those granted access. The other inmates—Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım, and Veysi Aktaş—also received family visits.
Related articles:
Rare family visit permitted to İmralı Prison inmates after many months isolationTurkey evaluates request for family visit to Abdullah Öcalan, says Justice Minister
On Monday evening, Ömer Öcalan underlined the significance of the visit: “On the occasion of Ramadan Bayram, we, as their families, met with Mr Abdullah Öcalan, Hamili Yıldırım, Veysi Aktaş, and Ömer Hayri Konar today at İmralı Prison. Given the critical developments in Turkey, the Middle East, and globally, I share Mr Abdullah Öcalan’s message with the public.”
The visits came after years of mounting legal and political pressure regarding the conditions of isolation at İmralı. Since 2014, Öcalan has only been permitted seven family visits, with the last one occurring on 23 October 2023, after a 44-month total communication blackout. His legal team has faced repeated rejections for both family and lawyer visits amid arbitrary visitation bans, with the last legal meeting held in August 2019.
The Asrın Law Office, representing Öcalan and the other inmates, released a report on 28 March detailing 52 unanswered applications for family and lawyer visits, as well as appeals to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) for urgent intervention.
Observers see the visit as potentially signalling a shift in Turkey’s tightly controlled prison policies. It also comes amid a renewed push by the pro-Kurdish DEM Party for a peaceful and democratic resolution to the Kurdish question, following three visits to İmralı between December 2024 and February 2025.
