ISTANBUL - Stating that all segments of the society must be included in the process, "Legal regulations must be made and equal and favourable conditions must be provided for Abdullah Öcalan like Nelson Mandela," says Lawyer Ercan Kanar.
The isolation of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is being held in İmralı Type F High Security Closed Prison, continues. On 28 December, during the meeting with the DEM Party İmralı delegation, Abdullah Öcalan sent a 7-point message aiming the democratic transformation of Turkey.
Commenting on the issue, Ercan Kanar, one of Abdullah Öcalan's first lawyers, stated that in order for the talks in İmralı to proceed properly, the isolation must first be lifted. Kanar said, "A lagel arrangement must be made in the legislation and Abdullah Öcalan, like Nelson Mandela, must be given a residence with appropriate conditions and then released."
CONTRARY TO MANDELA RULES
Reminding that Bahçeli accepted the isolation policy with his statements and Erdoğan supported these statements, Kanar stressed that the government, which claimed that there was no such isolation in response to the questions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, had denied itself. Stating that the isolation must be lifted without any conditions and the right to conditional release must be ensured, Kanar underlined that the severe isolation conditions imposed on Abdullah Öcalan are contrary to the Mandela Rules.
Referring to the approaches of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on long prison sentences, Kanar said, "According to the Committee of Ministers, sentences should be reviewed every 8 to 14 years and according to the ECtHR every 25 years. The ECtHR has already stated in many judgements that imprisonment until death is torture and inhuman treatment and is a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. At its last meeting in September (2024), the Committee warned Turkey again about the right to hope and asked the secretariat to prepare a draft interim resolution if it did not take steps in this regard within the next year."
'ISOLATION MUST BE LIFTED'
Kanar stated that he found it important that the DEM Party delegation met with Abdullah Öcalan after Bahçeli's call for Abdullah Öcalan. "If a solution and peace talks are to start, first of all the isolation on Abdullah Öcalan must be lifted. A second condition is that the right to education in mother language must be accepted. There can be no real solution in a compromise where education in mother tongue is not accepted. On the one hand, the continued appointment of trustees to the municipalities elected by the Kurds and the continuation of the operations show that the government is not sincere. I do not believe that the government is sincere in a real solution," he said.
Stating that the ongoing isolation in İmralı is linked to the Kurdish issue and that the Kurdish issue is a multidimensional problem. Kanar said, “For this problem to be discussed in a real sense, it is not enough for the DEM Party to meet with Abdullah Öcalan. At the same time, his lawyers and family must also meet with him. Mandela rules must be applied for this. As in the Mandela process, Abdullah Öcalan must be allowed to meet with his lawyers and family. To ensure these conditions, Abdullah Öcalan must be placed under house arrest. After that, the article of the law that regulates imprisonment until death must be abolished. With a law to be enacted later, all political prisoners in prisons, especially Abdullah Öcalan, must be released.”
'ALL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS MUST TAKE ACTION'
Emphasizing that it is not right for the government to base the process on the PKK laying down its arms, Kanar said, “Whether the government accepts it or not, the PKK is a party to this issue. It is even an important party. The government must accept this reality. This reality was accepted in South Africa. It should not discriminate again. The DEM Party, Selahattin Demirtaş and Kandil should not be excluded. Only then can we move towards a peace that will satisfy all parties.”
Kanar said that the solution to the Kurdish issue is not easy and that all democratic institutions in Turkey, as well as rights and legal organizations and trade unions should take responsibility for this, and that all institutions should take action to end the isolation.
MA / Esra Solin Dal