The German newspapers Tagesspiegel and Junge Welt recently published news that Turkey is violating human rights by isolating Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan in Turkey’s İmrali Island prison, after 69 Nobel laureates signed an open letter to European and international human rights organisations on Friday expressing deep concern about his conditions.
Turkey’s isolation of Öcalan, in violation of UN and Council of Europe agreements, is a violation of human rights, Junge Welt stressed on Sunday, adding that 100 public figures from Germany had contacted the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in June.
Kariane Westrheim, a retired professor at the University of Bergen, told Junge Welt on behalf of the campaign that “a fair and democratic political solution to the centuries-old Kurdish problem” is only possible “if Abdullah Öcalan is allowed to participate in a renewed dialogue”.
“A solidarity campaign for Abdullah Öcalan is calling on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to negotiate with the PKK founder who is being held in Turkey,” the Tagesspiegel reported on Friday, stressing that this was particularly important for Syria.
On Friday, another German newspaper, Neues Deutschland, shared an article about the Turkish invasion into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), titled “Turkish incursion into Iraq”. The article highlighted the contracts that were signed between Turkey and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) at the beginning of the year.
The fact that the Turkish army has occupied large parts of Iraqi Kurdistan’s Dohuk (Dihok) and border areas of Erbil (Hewlêr) province since mid-June has been largely ignored by the international press and politicians, Neues Deutschland added.
Turkey already has a presence in Iraq with a number of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan and the central government-administered city of Bashiqa, Neues Deutschland said, adding, “But now, for the first time, it is occupying populated areas and transport links.”
In their open letter published on Friday, the 69 Nobel laureates, consisting of academics, writers, and human rights activists, expressed concern that despite Öcalan’s evident isolation and the continuous violations of his rights, there have been no “meaningful efforts by the European institutions addressed here and the UN Human Rights Committee”.
They highlighted that the CPT is mandated to inspect prison conditions in Council of Europe member states, including Turkey, and to identify any breaches. Although Öcalan’s “rights are guaranteed by the Turkish constitution”, as well as “by EU statutes and regulations and by international law”, the signatories lamented that these protections seem to be disregarded.
They argued that resuming the negotiations, which were suspended in 2015, would only be feasible with Öcalan’s participation.
