Siblings of Imrali detainees submit new request to visit them

Today, leader Abdullah Ocalan's brother, Muhammad Ocalan, through his lawyer Mazlum Dinç, along with the brother of detainee Omer Khairi Kunar, Ali Kunar, the brother of Hamili Yildirim, Polat Yildirim, and the sister of Veysi Aktaş, Meliha Aktaş, submitted a new application to the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor in the Turkish city of Bursa and the Imrali Prison Directorate for visitation rights.

Lawyers from the Al-Asr Human Rights Office file two visitation requests weekly with the Bursa Public Prosecutor's Office and the Imrali Prison Directorate. Additionally, the detainees' families also submit two requests weekly, totaling 16 applications per month, without receiving any responses.

The last meeting with leader Abdullah Ocalan by his lawyers, Riza Sarica and Newroz Uysal, was on August 7, 2019. On March 25, 2021, a five-minute phone call was held with his brother, Muhammad Ocalan, before the connection was cut off.

On October 23, 2024, after four years of no direct contact, leader Abdullah Ocalan met face-to-face with his nephew, Omer Ocalan. During the meeting, leader Ocalan conveyed a message: "Isolation continues, but if the conditions are met, I have the theoretical and practical strength to move this process from the grounds of conflict and violence to a legal and political framework."

Meanwhile, the system of torture and annihilation in Imrali persists. Leader Abdullah Ocalan is being denied even his basic rights as a detainee, under the pretext of what Turkish authorities refer to as "disciplinary sanctions."

A-H

ANHA