International Initiative
Freedom for Ocalan Peace in Kurdistan
P.O. Box 100511, D-50445 Koeln
Telephone: +49 221 130 15 59
Fax: +49 221 139 30 71
E-Mail: info@freedom-for-ocalan.com
Url: www.freedom-for-ocalan.com
Cologne, 6 September 2005
Press statement:
Turkey plays with fire: Ocalan feels that
his security can no longer be guaranteed.
Since 1 June 2005 Abdullah Ocalans lawyers have had no contact
with their client, as Ocalan has refused their visits because of
the legal changes in force since then, which amongst other things
stipulate that the prosecutors office should undertake direct
surveillance of interviews with clients.
Since 1 June the Kurdish leaders family have only been able
to visit him on four occasions, when they were obliged to undergo
humiliating checks. Other visits have so far been arbitrarily blocked
by the Turkish authorities. According to his brother Mehment Ocalan,
Abdullah Ocalans already severe conditions of isolation have
been further intensified.
Apart from the fact that it is extremely difficult for Ocalans
lawyers to deal with their clients affairs, as twelve lawyers
have had their mandate removed, other lawyers have been the subject
of court proceedings and had travel bans imposed, he is now exposed
to additional harassment such as constant provocations from the
guards. This includes closing the passage to the courtyard for an
hour per day, which has led to yet another deterioration in his
health. According to his brother, the swellings on his head are
larger, his chronic sinusitis is worse, and his breathing difficulties
caused by chronically inflamed airways have become much worse. Medical
attention is restricted exclusively to external examinations. His
brother further reports that he is now only being given old newspapers
once a month. Much more worrying is that because of the increasingly
provocative behaviour of the guards, Abdullah Ocalan feels that
his security can no longer be guaranteed.
We at the International Peace Initiative share this concern, since
any injury to Ocalan would have unforeseeable consequences for the
Turkish-Kurdish conflict. In any case the tense atmosphere in the
Kurdish region of Turkey gives little room for optimism. It is true
that Prime Minister Erdogan recently recognised the existence of
the Kurdish question, after the fighting between Turkish army units
and the Kurdish guerrillas escalated again. But the Turkish army
in fact accompanied this gesture of good will with a widening of
military operations and brusquely rejected the one month ceasefire
announced by the Kurdish side. Peaceful assemblies of Kurdish civilians
demanding the return of the bodies of Kurdish rebels killed in these
operations have been broken up and fired upon, leading to more deaths
and injuries.
To avoid further escalation of the conflict, the engagement of
the international community is also called for. Here the EU has
a special role, since it is hard to imagine that a country like
Turkey, in which human rights are systematically violated, can become
a member. Nor should the European Council and the Council of Ministers
stand by and watch the systematic breaking of the European Convention
on Human Rights without taking any action. Turkey must be induced
to take a constructive approach to the Kurdish question. To demand
an immediate improvement in the prison conditions of Abdullah Ocalan
would be a first step.
Dialogue not Force!
Lift the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan immediately!
(Source: Press Statement of Asrin Hukuk Burosu, 1 September
2005; phone conversation with Mehmet Ocalan, 1 September 2005)
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