The İmralı Peace Delegation urged for the end of Abdullah Öcalan’s isolation in İmralı Island Prison as a crucial step towards fostering peace in the region at a press conference in Reykjavik, Iceland on Wednesday following their visit to Turkey last week.
During the “Political Developments and Isolation in Turkey” press conference, the delegation also emphasised that Turkey’s treatment of the Kurdish population within its borders has been overlooked by the global media, highlighting the need for greater attention towards the oppression faced by Kurds.
“For a peaceful and democratic resolution both in the region and globally, Öcalan must be released, enabling him to play the role he needs to play at the peace table,” said Icelandic politician and representative to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Ogmundur Jonnason, who delivered the opening speech. “Öcalan is the sole leader of the Kurdish people and the party seeking peace,” he added.
Jonnason emphasised the urgent need for an end to the isolation imposed on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Öcalan, stressing that it is crucial for a democratic future in Turkey and the Middle East.
Jonnason also showed photographs from the resistance in the Sur district of Turkey’s southeastern city of Diyarbakır (Amed) to draw attention to law enforcement violence in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority provinces.
Denis O’Hearn, a professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso, highlighted that prisons in Turkey have turned into centres of torture.
“The İmralı torture system, where Öcalan is held captive, served as a prototype, and today, there is isolation in several prisons throughout Turkey,” O’Hearn stated. “Öcalan has been subjected to severe isolation for the past 25 months, without being allowed to meet with his family and lawyers, which has no legal basis anywhere in the world.”
The professor also said that the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the Council of Europe itself were consciously not exerting sufficient pressure on Turkey to end the isolation.
In her speech, Spanish MP and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Laura Castel called upon the Council of Europe to adhere to its own laws and international conventions.
“The conditions of Öcalan cannot be compared to those of any other political prisoner. Even Mandela had access to his lawyers,” said Castel. “It is evident that the Turkish state is attempting to isolate not only Öcalan but also the Kurdish people and their struggle through the imposed isolation,” she concluded.
The İmralı Peace Delegation, made up of peace activists, politicians and academics from around the world, visited Turkey and met with representatives from the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) to discuss the situation facing Öcalan last week. During their visit, the delegation also called for the resumption of visits by family members and legal representatives, as well as an end to the broader crackdown on Kurdish political activity in Turkey.
