İSTANBUL - PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan has spoken on the phone with his brother for a “short” time after nearly a year of no contact, according to a statement from his lawyers.
Asrin Law Office, which represents Ocalan, said on Thursday that the phone call was “cut after a short time.”
Rumours circulated on social media on March 14 that Ocalan had passed away in prison, alarming both the leader’s family and his lawyers who have been uncertain of his health condition since Ocalan’s older brother Mehmet spoke with him on the phone on April 27, 2020.
WE COULD NOT GET POSITIVE RESPONSE
Asrın Law Office said: "As it is known, we could not get any news from Mr. Öcalan since April 27, 2020. The last lawyer meeting we could have with him was on 7 August 2019. After making serious claims about Mr. Öcalan's life on social media on March 14, 2021, we demanded a face-to-face meeting every day, in order to confirm his health and as a legal right. However, we did not get a positive response to any of these.
WE CANNOT REACH HEALTHY INFORMATION
Today, we have not been able to access healthy information about Mr. Öcalan's health status. Our request to meet Mr. Öcalan in İmralı Prison urgently continues. As a matter of fact, Mr. Öcalan stated that he did not accept the prosecutor's office not responding to these requests and that this situation was unlawful, and the meeting was interrupted. We present these developments to the public, and we invite the authorities to act in accordance with the law and to take responsibility. "