All democratic institutions in Turkey are ‘guilty’ of the continued isolation of Abdullah Öcalan from the outside world, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader’s brother, Mehmet Öcalan, said in an interview.
Öcalan has not been heard from in more than 27 months as he continues to serve a life sentence in the specially built İmralı Island Prison in the northwestern Bursa province. The PKK leader has been behind bars since 1999 when he was tried and convicted of high treason and terrorism.
“There is no convict in the world who has been incommunicado for 27 months. Nobody knows if he is alive or dead. What is happening on İmralı is a litmus test for the law in Turkey,” Öcalan’s brother said.
“This is no way to resolve the Kurdish question or the Middle East’s problems. All democratic bodies must question themselves. None should sleep easy. If the isolation continues, we are all guilty,” he said.
Mehmet Öcalan believes all crises in Turkey stem from isolation policies imposed on Abdullah Öcalan, who “is in İmralı, but the isolation is on all peoples.”
“The reason behind the economic crisis is policies of war, and isolation is the reason behind the war,” he said. “If this isolation continues, the economic crisis will get deeper. Nobody will be able to endure it at some point.”
Opposition parties and organizations share part of the responsibility, the brother said. “If a true future is to be built, everybody must protest the isolation. This is no way to a resolution. The government is already killing us; the opposition should stop applauding.”
Öcalan also accused the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) of silence. “Why don’t they do anything? We are calling on all to fulfil their humanitarian duty; we don’t ask for alms.”
The CPT’s duties in Turkey include oversight of the İmralı Prison, where Öcalan and several other high-ranking members of the PKK are held. However, the committee is not obligated to issue public reports, instead sending its findings to the authorities in any given country. Reports can be made public if governments approve.
CPT’s report on its latest visit to İmralı in September last year did not include any details on Öcalan’s situation, despite ongoing campaigns for information. Öcalan’s lawyers at the Asrın Law Office told reporters that they were told the PKK leader did not attend any visit.
Öcalan is frequently issued communication bans over what his legal team calls arbitrary and baseless reasons. Out of 1,253 requests by the lawyers to visit their client, 719 were denied over a 12-year period up to 2011.
