At the press conference held on January 17, Asrın Law Firm announced the "2023 observation and detection" report on Imralı Type F Closed Prison, where PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan and prisoners Hamili Yıldırım, Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş are held. The report stated that a total of 169 demands for opinion were left unanswered during the year. The report stated that "2023 has been the year of absolute lack of communication" and emphasized that "it is a historical need for 2024 to be the year of Abdullah Ocalan's freedom and the solution of the Kurdish issue."

 

Cengiz Yürekli, one of the lawyers of Asrın Law Firm, evaluated the Imralı isolation, the announced report and the initiatives against this situation.

 

'THEY WANT TO BREAK THE WILL'

 

Stating that they both inform the public and aim to "take action" with the report they prepare every year, Yürekli said: "Another year has passed without any contact since the ongoing practice of ill-treatment, torture and lawlessness in Imralı."

 

'CPT DID NOT PROVIDE INFORMATION' 

 

Emphasizing that they have also applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) for Imralı, Yürekli said: "The current situation of the CPT and the ECHR is a state of crime. There is no mechanism through which we can complain about them. The CPT has been there before (Imralı) made determinations about the unacceptable conditions. The CPT visited to Imralı in September 2022, but neither gave us information nor made a statement to the public. Moreover, they did not disclose their report. The reason for not disclosing their report was 'I am fulfilling the requirements of the contract to which I am subject'. However, such a situation is not the case. Because the CPT previously made 8 visits to Imralı and criticized the government in all of them," he said.

 

'ECHR HAS NOT ANNOUNCED ITS DECISION FOR 14 YEARS'

 

Yürekli also criticized the ECHR regarding the situation in Imralı and said, "We have an application to the ECHR dated 2011 regarding Mr. Ocalan. Although Mr. Ocalan has been held in Imralı conditions for 25 years and has reached the age of 75, the ECHR remains indifferent and does not disclose this report. "There were two previous decisions stating that these conditions constituted ill-treatment and torture. One is the 2005 Grand Chamber Decision and the other is the 2014 decision," he said.

 

UNREGULAR WAR PROCEDURE

 

Emphasizing that the ECHR and other relevant international institutions were complicit in the violations in Imralı, Yürekli stated that they were not aware of the health condition of their clients and that this situation had reached an alarming point. Yürekli pointed to the Ministry of Health's response to the DEM Party's parliamentary question regarding Ocalan's health condition, saying "it does not fall within the scope of our ministry's jurisdiction" and said, "Of course, the Ministry of Health is authorized on this matter. If it is not within its authority, the Minister of Justice is authorized. If he says 'I am not authorized' This is where the status of Imralı comes into play. Then, whose jurisdiction is Imralı in? There has been a status problem for Imralı from the very beginning. Imralı is kept under a mystery. It is kept separate from other prisons, and the practices and laws applied in other prisons are not applicable for Imralı. "Let me be very clear; this is an unconventional warfare procedure," he said.

 

EUROPE'S PARTNERSHIP WITH Türkiye

 

Pointing out that the unlawfulness in Imralı is not limited to Turkey, Yürekli said, "Turkey is a country subject to European law. Imralı is also within the borders of European law. It is obliged to implement the recommendations of the Council of Europe and the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers. That is why this It is not something that Turkey has done alone, but it has done jointly with European law. So how is this possible? The international dimension of the Kurdish problem must be seen. The reality of the war and conflict that the Kurds are drawn into is a NATO reality, where political, economic concerns or agreed law are put on the shelf. "In this respect, there is a need to frustrate these policies and the resistance against them in the person of Mr. Ocalan. All these practices were actually carried out to frustrate this resistance," he said.

 

IMRALI APPLICATION OF THOUSAND 330 LAWYERS

 

Yürekli stated that many legal organizations in Turkey and around the world took action against the unlawfulness and reminded that 1,330 lawyers from 35 bar associations recently applied to the Ministry of Justice. Yürekli said: "No lawyer organization in Turkey can organize in such a massive way and point out such an unlawfulness. 1,330 of our colleagues applied to the Ministry of Justice with the demand of 'remove the unlawfulness there and let the meetings take place, we want to meet. 'Although this is a very valuable application, it is a requirement of the law, citizenship and professional responsibility. I believe that relevant parties will also take this into consideration. This application must also be read as follows; This is an exposition of the minimum common principles of legal practice in Turkey. Whoever is talking about the law, whoever is talking about the establishment of rights, must first raise their voice about this issue."

 

'THE STRUGGLE MOBILIZATION MUST BE ENTERED'

 

Noting that the Imralı isolation has reached "an intolerable point", Yürekli said: “The way out of the crises in the country is through the abolition of the Imralı system. On the contrary, pointed out that no path to be followed would produce positive results. Undoubtedly, Mr. Ocalan is the only person who has a project and program not only on the solution of violence, but also on Turkey's democracy issues and the solution models of the Kurdish issue. Past experiences have always shown this to us. That's why any struggle that does not focus on Imralı and does not demand a change in Mr. Ocalan's legal position will not reach a conclusion. On the contrary, it is an effort to save the day and act within the limits drawn by the government. For this, it is necessary to mobilize a struggle and demand the establishment of law within democratic borders. Such is the case. When there is a struggle, believe me, 2024 will be a year when the issue is solved on the basis of peace and the democratic gains of the people of Turkey, together with the Kurds are in question. As long as we see the issue correctly at its source, let's join the struggle to solve the solution at its source together." 

 

'2024 WILL BE THE YEAR OF PEACE AND FREEDOM'

 

Emphasizing the importance of the actions and activities initiated at the global level to demand the physical freedom of Abdullah Ocalan, Yürekli continued as follows: "Today, while the whole world is discussing Mr. Ocalan's ideas and objecting to the existing isolation and conditions he is in, unfortunately, those who are outside the Kurds Turkey does not want to see this either. Look, in the protest initiated by political prisoners in prisons, their main demands are a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue and the freedom of Mr. Ocalan. They are paying the price for a country's democracy issue, a people's struggle for freedom and the peaceful issue of society. In addition, this is what they lead. The struggle is not left alone, our people are shouting their demands everywhere. In a place where such a struggle is integrated and globalized, I believe that 2024 will be a different year not only for the Kurds and democratic forces, but for all the people of the region and the Turkish society. As long as we believe in this struggle, as long as we respect the will of those who waged this struggle and achieved these gains over and over again."

 

MA / Ibrahim Irmak