🔴 Belgian senator Mark Demesmaeker (@markdemesmaeker) has called on the Turkish government to return to the peace process initiated by PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in 2013.#FreedomForOcalanNow | #PoliticalPrisoners | @j_klute https://t.co/JX98kluIXshttps://t.co/elD09U7x5F pic.twitter.com/wbsvvGAF7j
— MedyaNews (@1MedyaNews) July 20, 2023
Imprisoning someone and denying them their basic rights is not the path to peace, said Mark Demesmaeker, adding that only dialogue can bring peace. The Belgian senator, speaking to Medya Haber TV’s Erem Kansoy, also called on the Turkish government to return to the peace process that Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan tried to develop in 2013.
As the debates surrounding the incommunicado detention endured by Öcalan at İmralı Prison for over 28 months have recently regained prominence in Turkish politics, there are also increasing global calls for an end to his isolation.
Joining the chorus of voices against the isolation, German politician Jürgen Klute, who is an honorary member of the European Parliament, highlighted that such treatment is a gross violation of human rights. Klute further stressed that Öcalan remains a significant actor for peace in the region.
As the incommunicado detention conditions on İmralı Island continues, appeals and calls to Turkish authorities have multiplied. Previously, hundreds of lawyers from around the globe had submitted requests to the Turkish Ministry of Justice to visit Öcalan in prison.
One of those who applied to visit İmralı Island, Belgian lawyer Salma Bankhelifa, described absolute isolation as a form of torture and advocated for the release of the PKK leader.
