Response from the Parliament to the İmralı Question: 'The island can be visited'

The deputies of the People's Democratic Party (HEDEP) submitted an application to the Human Rights Inquiry Committee (İHİK) of the Parliament on November 16 regarding PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is held in isolation in İmralı F-Type High-Security Closed Prison and has not been heard from for 33 months.

In response to the application, İHİK stated that "the application has been examined, and information has been requested from the Ministry of Justice and the Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses due to the mentioned situation."

The committee also responded to the request for an on-site inspection of İmralı. In its response, the committee stated: "Regarding your complaints, if the Subcommittee on Examining the Rights of Convicts and Detainees established within our committee deems it appropriate to conduct an on-site inspection, it is possible for the Subcommittee to carry out an on-site examination, and your application has been recorded in the committee records for the necessary actions to be taken."

Last meeting was held on August 7, 2019 

Lawyers from the Asrın Law Office last met with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on August 7, 2019.

Since the brief 4.5-minute interrupted phone call on March 25, 2021, with his brother Mehmet Öcalan, there has been no news from Öcalan.

With this phone call, Öcalan used his legal phone right, limitedly for the second time in his 24 years of imprisonment.

During the conversation, he stated, "What you are doing is very wrong. The state is playing wrong, and so are you. This is not legal, nor is it right. This is unacceptable. Are you aware of what you are doing? I want my lawyers to come here and meet with me. This is a legal matter. I've been here for 22 years. How will this issue be resolved in the future? This issue can only be resolved through legal means. Why don't they come here? If there is going to be a meeting, it should be with these lawyers. Because this situation is both political and legal."

Between 2011 and 2020, Öcalan's family made 385 visit requests, but only 29 of them were accepted. (RT/PE)