Sabri Ok, a member of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), stressed in an interview with ANF published on Saturday that the Turkish government is implementing a policy of oppression against the Kurds and the Kurdish freedom movement. He emphasised that this policy was first implemented in İmralı Island Prison, where Abdullah Öcalan has steadfastly resisted all forms of pressure and thwarted the policy of repression.
Ok spoke about the increasing isolation of the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in solitary confinement on İmralı Island since 1999, and the continuing struggle against it.
He recalled the lack of information about what is happening on İmralı Island, as well as the health and security conditions of Öcalan. He stressed that neither Öcalan’s lawyers nor his family have received any information for almost three years. According to Ok, this situation shows the persistence of the forces responsible for the establishment of the İmralı prison system and what the Kurds call the “international conspiracy” of 1998 that forced Öcalan to leave Syria and led to his arrest in 1999.
Sabri Ok pointed to the specially built İmralı Island Prison and described it as a policy of genocide instead of justice. Ok pointed out that Öcalan’s prolonged isolation from his family and legal counsel cannot be justified by any alleged disciplinary offences, as it contradicts all international legal principles, human rights and democratic norms.
He went on to question how a person held in solitary confinement on an island could commit a disciplinary offence.
“There is a multifaceted, methodical and unethical practice on İmralı; a fierce struggle is underway. The struggle is ideological, psychological, wilful and political,” he concluded.
