AMED - ÖHD Amed Branch Co-Chair Zeynep Karayılan stated that regulations should be made within the scope of the "right to hope" regarding the process and that Abdullah Öcalan's freedom should be ensured for dialogue and negotiation processes to be carried out.

 

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that the "aggravated life imprisonment sentence" given to Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan without the possibility of parole in 2014 violated the "prohibition of torture" stipulated in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECtHR demanded the elimination of the violation by making a legal arrangement regarding the practice that caused the violation. 

 

Upon Turkey's failure to make legal arrangements, legal and human rights organisations applied to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The CoE, which processed the application, gave Turkey until September 2025. 

 

No steps have been taken so far regarding the "right to hope", which has been one of the most debated issues both during this period and since the Kurdish question began to be discussed.

 

Zeynep Karayılan, co-chair of the Amed (Diyarbakır) Branch of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), stated that the "right to hope" must be implemented.

 

'ISOLATION CONTINUES'

 

Reminding that Abdullah Öcalan met with Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Riha (Urfa) MP Ömer Öcalan on 23 October 2024, Zeynep Karayılan said, “Although meetings were held afterwards, the isolation was not completely lifted. Öcalan expressed this situation in his first meeting with his nephews. He is still not allowed to meet with his lawyers and family routinely. In fact, this situation is not a policy implemented within the last 4 years. As a whole, from the moment he was brought to Turkey in 1999 with an international conspiracy, we can say that there has been an Imrali isolation regime for 27 years."

 

 

Emphasising that the İmralı isolation system must be lifted as soon as possible, Zeynep Karayılan said, "Mr Abdullah Öcalan must be able to meet with his lawyers and his family. In order for him to play an effective role in the process that continues with the call he made on 27 February and the PKK's termination of its activities as a result, he needs to be free to live and work. In order for him to carry out this process, it is necessary to ensure his physical freedom and pave the way for him to work in a healthy and safe environment."

 

'RIGHT TO HOPE'

 

Pointing to the violation judgements of the ECtHR on the "right to hope", Zeynep Karayılan said, "Turkey has not taken any steps at this point for more than 10 years. For Mr Öcalan's right to hope, the legal regulations must be changed and Turkey must implement the judgements of the ECtHR. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe put the 'right to hope' on its agenda in September 2024 and announced that it would prepare an interim resolution if no change is made by September 2025."

 

Zeynep Karayılan said that in order for this right to be recognised, the relevant articles of the Anti-terror Law (TMK) must be changed. 

 

'THE SOLUTION WILL BE REALISED IN THE PERSON OF ÖCALAN'

 

Underlining that the regulations on the “right to hope” will also affect other prisoners sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, Zeynep Karayılan said: “Just as the isolation started in İmralı Island Prison and spread to all prisons in Turkey and Kurdistan and was applied to the Kurdish people as a whole, the solution will actually be realised in the person of Mr Abdullah Öcalan.”

 

She underlined that it was the state’s turn to take steps after the PKK ended its activites following Abdullah Öcalan’s call and added: “From now on, it depends on the steps to be taken by the state. Legal and political steps must be taken for a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish question. The disarmament process must be completed without mutual suspicion and uneasiness.”

 

COMMON STRUGGLE

 

Stressing that the place for a solution is the Parliament, Zeynep Karayılan said: “As pointed out by Mr Abdullah Öcalan, a commission should be established in the Parliament and this commission should start working as soon as possible. The realisation of the law amendment is not only the responsibility of the Parliament, but also the responsibility of civil society organisations, political parties and associations. From now on, we need to expand the call and mobilise in a collective struggle. The state also needs to take legal and transparent steps as soon as possible.”

 

MA / Rukiye Payiz Adıgüzel