Imprisoned Former MP Özkan: How Can a Jail be Good for a Child?

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"I was arrested when Asmin was three years old. I neglected her because of the business before getting arrested. I always wanted to find an opportunity and move away with her for a while but it didn't happen.

"I was arrested two weeks after Asmin's third birthday. If you know how easily I have been writing to this point... But now, it's like I am out of words. In fact, my daughter is fighting her own battle. A child who is left without her mother in a period when she needs her mother the most... She regularly comes to me."

This is how Burcu Çelik Özkan, a former MP for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), describes her relationship with her daughter whom she meets in prison from time to time.

Özkan has been at Kandıra Type-F prison since April 2017 when she was arrested.

Raising the voice of children and inmates in the parliament when she was an MP, Özkan made an application in 2017 for her daughter Asmin Mira to stay with her.

She asks, "Think about it; how can be a prison, where there were no women until we came, good for a child?" in a letter she sent to bianet.

"All the women politicians are here"

Here is Özkan's letter in brief:

"We are fine. Of course, our days are busy. I am no stranger to these places. I always came to these places in my professional life. Especially in my time as an MP, with the committee of prisons, I had the opportunity to see dozens of prisons and wards.

"In particular, we worked on mothers who stay with their children. At times, we also tried to contribute this topic to be added to the parliamentary agenda. Of course, when I was working in this area, I didn't think that my daughter will one day become one of those children.

"Here, reading is what keeps you standing. Every book you read brings you to other worlds and thoughts. For sure this helps you stay fit. At first, my readings were messy; now I try to read more in a 'subject'-based way.

"If you are 'stubborn', you can find ways out of the monotony that the F-type drags you into. For example, baglama [a stringed instrument] was one of them. I play the baglama, and of course, folk songs are never missing. You know, producing is always good for a person. I also want to write a novel here. I actually have little studies. But my daughter can get me distracted sometimes.

"For me, writing means telling, sharing, putting what is inside me into words. Putting literary concerns aside, I want to be free, to meet with air, the sun, nature and people. Maybe I can complete it."

"You know, we, politician women, are all here. I am actually lucky in many ways as I am the youngest one. Being in the same place with our women friends, especially with Gültan Kışanak, is precious for me. Our discussions, chats never ceased here.

"When you know 'why you are where you are,' everything becomes easier. And this is when the walls and fences lose their meaning. Believe, they have lost their meaning like never before."

"My daughter visits me regularly"

"But sometimes they become bigger and bigger. These are the times Asmin is in my heart! I was arrested when Asmin was three years old. I neglected her because of business before my arrest. I always wanted to find an opportunity and move away with her for a while but it didn't happen.

"I was arrested two weeks after Asmin's third birthday. If you know how easily I have been writing to this point... But now, it's like I am out of words. In fact, my daughter is fighting her own battle. A child who is left without her mother in a period when she needs her mother the most...

"She regularly comes to me. I try to keep her one week at most. Think about it; how can be a prison, where there were no women until we came, good for a child?" (EMK/VK)