Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Executive Committee member Duran Kalkan emphasised the right to hope on Wednesday during a Medya Haber TV broadcast and called for the retrial, re-evaluation, and release of PKK’s founding leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in İmralı Island Prison in Turkey since 1999.
Kalkan recalled that the İmralı Island Prison system entered its 25th year after Öcalan’s arrest and stated that Öcalan’s situation should be re-evaluated according to European law.
“According to European law, the Turkish government no longer has the possibility to keep Leader Apo [Öcalan] on İmralı. Lawyers also emphasise this,” said Kalkan, highlighting that international legal circles are currently focusing on the issue. He stressed the need for a continued to fight against the Turkish government’s approach.
Kalkan mentioned that Öcalan has been held in a state of absolute incommunicado for 27 consecutive months, and expert jurists have stated that such a level of isolation has never before been implemented in history. “Even in South Africa, where the most severe isolation practices were observed, they recently stated that the treatment of Nelson Mandela was not as severe as this,” said Kalkan.
“People can be enemies, but there are limits, measures, and even laws for enmity,” Kalkan said, highlighting that the Turkish government has not fulfilled its promises to improve the conditions of Öcalan. He emphasised the need for the government to fulfil these commitments. “In that respect, we repeatedly state that there is no law in İmralı. We say that the isolation continues. Why? Because those who govern there promised that it would not be like this. They are not fulfilling the requirements of their laws or their promises,” he said.
Kalkan said that the Turkish government pay lip service to European law but do not implement it, citing the continued imprisonment of former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, contrary to the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) rulings. According to Kalkan, the government’s approach of “recognising nothing outside its own politics” is on-going.
He criticised the silence of European institutions, including the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the Council of Europe regarding the unlawful practices and isolation imposed on Öcalan, stating that Europe is complicit by remaining silent about what is happening on İmralı Island.
