PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan is being held in İmralı Type F High Security Closed Prison. After 43 months isolation Abdullah Öcalan met with his nephew and MP of DEM Party Ömer Öcalan on 23 October for the first time as part of family visit. During the meeting, Abdullah Öcalan pointed out that the isolation still continues and gave the message that "If conditions are right, I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from the ground of conflict and violence to the legal and political ground". While the discussions on the "new process" continue, Abdullah Öcalan was given a 3-month ban on family visits and a 6-month ban on lawyer visits.

 

Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Co-Chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan applied to the Ministry of Justice to go to İmralı. While no response has yet been given to the DEM Party's application, People's Defence Centre Headquarters Commander Murat Karayılan made a statement on the developments.

 

'THEY DID NOT DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE CALL'

 

According Fırat News Agency (ANF); Murat Karayılan said that no steps have been taken to solve the Kurdish issue except for Devlet Bahçeli's calls. Karayılan said: "Our movement said, 'We are behind the process to be developed by Leader Apo'. Our movement clearly stated this, but the Turkish state has not taken any steps in the intervening time. Only 2-3 times Bahçeli declared that he stands behind the call he made. They did nothing else." 

 

'NO MESSAGE HAS BEEN RECEIVED'

 

Murat Karayılan denied the claims that Abdullah Öcalan had sent a message to the PKK and said: "They said 'there are talks'; they stated that Leader Apo had sent a message to the PKK but the PKK did not accept it. In this way, they made propaganda within the scope of the special war to confuse the public. Let us state clearly; so far, apart from the two-sentence message of Leader Apo, which was shared with the public after his meeting with Ömer Öcalan, no message from the Leader has reached our movement, nor has there been any message from the Turkish state. In short, there is nothing concrete, but with such news they make it seem as if there is a process."

 

"We, as a movement, gave meaning to Bahçeli's call; for this reason, we made a statement that we are behind a process to be carried out by Leader Apo," said Karayılan and noted that no steps that they could interpret positively were taken after Devlet Bahçeli's statements.

 

'CANNOT BE SOLVED WITH CALLS'

 

Stating that the Kurdish issue is the most fundamental and serious problem of Turkey, "It is not a problem that can be solved with some calls. It is not a problem that can be solved without radical changes and corrections in legal and constitutional terms. In this respect, it is not possible to believe and take steps accordingly until serious and convincing steps are taken. There is no such thing as a solution. On the contrary, there are attacks to loosen the target and destroy it with destruction."

 

'THE CONSEQUENCES WOULD BE GRAVE'

 

Emphasising that Abdullah Öcalan's physical freedom must be ensured, Karayılan stated that the recent family visit does not mean that the isolation has been lifted. Pointing to the ban on family and lawyer visits and the appointment of trustees, Karayılan continued as follows: "It is clear that all these are aimed at establishing pressure. No result can be achieved with this method. First of all, the state should give up this method of achieving results through pressure and violence. Such an approach is neither moral nor legal; it is an inhuman behaviour that completely damages trust. The tactic of putting pressure on our Leader must be stopped. It should be known that if it is not stopped, the consequences will be grave."