ANKARA – Mothers at the Justice Watch made a statement in the Parliament and called for steps to be taken to end the isolation imposed on Abdullah Ocalan and ensure his physical freedom.

 

Relatives of prisoners and Mothers for Peace, who are at Justice Watch in many cities to ensure the physical freedom of PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan and to solve the Kurdish issue, made a statement at the garden of the Parliament. People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Parliamentary Group Deputy Chair Gülüstan Kılıç Koçyiğit and DEM Party Women's Assembly Spokesperson Halide Türkoğlu also attended the statement.

 

NO MEETING WITH THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE

 

Türkoğlu stated that the mothers came here to meet with the Minister of Justice, but they were informed that the minister was not here. Stating that the meeting did not take place for this reason, Türkoğlu stated that they would deliver the file with the demands of the mothers to the deputy Minister of Justice. Türkoğlu said: "They know that the struggle for rights, law and justice will take place with the abolition of the Imralı isolation system. Since the Imralı isolation system has also spread to all prisons, there is no justice, no rights, no law left in prisons."

 

Türkoğlu said: “For the establishment of peace, they demand that the isolation imposed on Mr. Ocalan be abolished and that the demands of political prisoners on hunger strike be met. The whole country must listen to the voices of Mothers for Peace who came here from many parts of the country today. I emphasize once again that we need solidarity.”

 

STATEMENT FROM MOTHERS

 

Speaking on behalf of Mothers for Peace, Hamdiye Kırıcı said: "First of all, we salute the Great Freedom March, which will be held between 1-15 February, with the aim of ending the quarter-century isolation regime of the Kurds’ Leader Abdullah Ocalan and defeating the oppression of fascism against the people of Turkey and Kurdistan. As a result of an international conspiracy, there has been no news from Mr. Ocalan, who has been held in absolute isolation conditions in Imralı Type F High Security Prison, since March 25, 2021. By immediately ending the isolation and absolute lack of communication imposed on the Kurds’ Leader Abdullah Ocalan; Ensuring physical freedom and reuniting with society will be the only way to a peaceful and democratic life. On this occasion, we once again call on women, all the public who want peace, freedom and democracy, international institutions and organizations to increase the fight against the Imralı torture system.

 

TAKE A STEP

 

As the public knows; Hundreds of prisoners in nearly 100 prisons in Turkey started a hunger strike on November 27, 2023, demanding the abolish of the isolation imposed on Mr. Ocalan and ensuring his physical freedom and a democratic and peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue. Hunger strikes have completed 65 days as of today. All authorized national and international institutions, especially the Ministry of Justice, the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT); It must take the necessary legal and political steps to fulfill all the demands of the prisoners to end the hunger strikes and to abolish the isolation imposed on Mr. Ocalan.

 

THE JUSTICE WATCH

 

Otherwise, we remind you that these institutions will be responsible for the serious consequences that will arise regarding the prisoners' right to life and health. We, as relatives of prisoners, have started Justice Watch in many cities of Kurdistan and Turkey in order to support the hunger strikes launched in prisons and to break the Imralı isolation. In this context, the Justice Watchs we initiated led by of Mothers for Peace, prisoners' relatives and TJA; It continues uninterruptedly in Diyarbakır, Mardin, Van, Adana, Mersin, Izmir, Istanbul and Ankara. The Justice Watches that were initiated have completed 59 days as of today.

 

 YOUR DEMANDS ARE OUR DEMANDS

 

Here we state once again; The demands of the prisoners are our demands. Our demands for freedom and justice will continue until our demands are met. Another facet of the isolation regime is the policies towards ill prisoners. According to the data of Non-Governmental Organizations in 2022, there are one thousand 517 ill prisoners in Turkey's prisons, 651 of which are seriously ill. As is known to the public, the real number is much higher than this.

 

A HUMANITARIAN SOLUTION MUST BE FOUND IMMEDIATELY

 

As a result of the isolation policies implemented in Imralı, especially in prisons, and increasingly applied to the people of Kurdistan and Turkey, deaths occur in prisons almost every day. The majority of those who lost their lives in prisons were sick prisoners. This is our call to all authorized institutions, especially the Ministry of Justice, which ignores the situation of ill prisoners and turns prisons into torture centers; A humanitarian solution must be found immediately and all necessary steps must be taken to free the ill prisoners.

 

 FULFILL THE REQUIREMENTS OF YOUR DUTIES

 

We call on the entire public and the international community, especially women, to embrace and strengthen our demands in order to end the isolation imposed on Mr. Ocalan and ensure his physical freedom. On this occasion, we remind all authorized institutions, especially the Ministry of Justice, to fulfill their duties.