The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers announced it will evaluate in September 2025 whether Turkey has taken the necessary legal steps to uphold the “right to hope” for imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and three others serving aggravated life sentences without parole, Mezopotamya Agency reported on Wednesday.
The decision follows the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling in March 2024, which declared that life imprisonment without the possibility of conditional release violates the European Convention on Human Rights’ prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment. The court found that Turkey had breached this principle in the case of Öcalan, as well as Hayati Kaytan, Emin Gurban and Civan Boltan—collectively referred to as the “Gurban group”.
Although the ECHR has repeatedly called for legislative changes since its first related ruling in 2014, Turkish authorities have yet to introduce a mechanism allowing prisoners sentenced to aggravated life terms to be periodically reviewed for release.
“The absence of any progress is deeply concerning,” the Committee said in a statement following its latest meeting from 17–19 September 2024. It urged Turkey to adopt reforms similar to those in other member states, creating a framework to assess whether such prisoners continue to pose a risk to society.
The Committee noted that the Turkish government argued that release was technically possible under current law. However, it also admitted that certain crimes—such as those involving national security—are effectively exempt.
The Committee’s review will focus on whether Turkey has introduced any legal or practical steps to ensure inmates serving non-reducible life terms are granted an opportunity for release, as required by Strasbourg case law. It warned that unless tangible progress is made before the 2025 review, it may instruct its Secretariat to draft an interim resolution—a formal step indicating serious non-compliance.
The outcome of the Committee’s review could have significant implications for Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999 and held in near-total isolation, and for broader debates on human rights compliance in Turkey’s penal system.
