The “lawless” isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan was deemed a “legal black hole” by his lawyer, during a press conference at a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE) session on Wednesday. Visiting Strasbourg for a series of interviews with European institutions, lawyer Özgür Faik Erol joined speakers Ömer Öcalan, an MP from Turkey’s leading Kurdish DEM Party, and Constantinos Efstathiou, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of Europe (PACE).
Irish MP Thomas Pringle and French MP Emmanuel Fernandes also contributed, while a crowd of supporters gathered for speeches, demanding freedom for Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue.
Lawyer Erol, who recently met with the General Secretary of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and other officials to discuss the conditions in İmralı prison, criticised the CPT’s current stance for potentially endorsing Turkey’s isolation policies. He highlighted Öcalan’s ongoing isolation and lack of face-to-face legal meetings since 2015.
Erol described the Turkish prison island of Imralı, where Öcalan has been detained since 1999, as a “legal black hole” and urged European institutions to address the issue promptly to prevent its normalisation and spread. The illegal treatment of Öcalan in İmralı denotes Turkey’s routine failure to adhere to European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgements, he added.
Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) Urfa MP Ömer Öcalan, also nephew to Abdullah Öcalan, described the isolation imposed on his uncle as “torture” and said the family had been prevented visits for over four years. During the delegation’s visit, Omer Öcalan provided information to the CPT regarding the isolation and alleged unlawful treatment of prisoners on İmralı and questioned the CPT’s silence on the matter, in particular referencing the failure to publish a prison inspection report.
According to Ömer Öcalan, CPT officials said it was impossible to disclose reports on prison inspections without the permission of the member country in question. Due to the critical nature of the situation, the MP said he had urged the CPT to pressure Turkey on the issue. He called on European institutions, including the European Council, Parliament, and Court of Human Rights, to intervene and stop Turkey’s alleged lawlessness.
Cypriot MP Constantinos Efstathiou, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE, criticised Turkey for its treatment of political prisoners, labelling it as one of the worst offenders. Efstathiou highlighted Öcalan’s years-long isolation and the lack of information available on his condition and health. He cited data on rights violations in Turkish prisons and condemned Europe’s silence on the issue, urging the relevant institutions to take a firm stance against Turkey, especially in light of Turkey’s aspirations to join the European Union.
Emmanuel Fernandes, a Member of Parliament from La France Insoumise, condemned Öcalan’s treatment as inhumane and contrary to the CoE conventions, to which Turkey is a signatory. He also pledged to raise the case of jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, and Turkey’s failure to comply with an ECHR ruling for his release.
Fernandes said France was “shameful” to bow down to diplomatic pressure and deport Kurdish activist Sehat Gültekin to Turkey, where they face persecution. The MP praised the recent democratic victory in the Kurdish-majority province of Van, where political objection over the late ousting of an elected Kurdish mayor led to their reinstatement.
Thomas Pringle, an independent MP from Ireland, promised to do what he could in the CoE and the Irish parliament for both Kurdish rights and justice for Öcalan.
Lawyers and parliamentarians worldwide have consistently decried the isolation tactics imposed on Öcalan as inhumane and a form of torture contrary to international human rights law. A major conference in the European Parliament last week saw scores of lawyers attending to address the detention conditions of political prisoners in Turkey and Europe, with a focus on the isolation of Öcalan. In October, the Freedom for Öcalan campaign kicked off a new global initiative demanding the release of the PKK leader for a peaceful and democratic resolution to the Kurdish issue.
