|
Abdullah Ocalan's family suspicious about
his unknown situation
15.6.2012 |
|
|
|
Osman Ocalan, the brother of Abdullah Ocalan, the
jailed Kurdish leader of the Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK).
Supporter of the jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah
Ocalan (on poster). Photo: AFP/Shwan Mohammed
June 15, 2012
ERBIL-Hewlêr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — Osman Ocalan, the brother
of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed Kurdish leader of the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), says his family is
deeply worried about Ocalan’s life in confinement.
“Six months and no one in my family has been allowed
to see Ocalan in prison,” Osman Ocalan says. “His
lawyers have not been allowed to see him either for
the past 10 months and that is a clear violation of
Ocalan’s rights as a political prisoner.”
Osman Ocalan, who temporarily led the PKK after his
brother’s abduction in Kenya in 1999, told Rudaw
that he speaks on behalf of his family.
“Two days ago, Devlet Bahceli, the head of the
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said that no
prisoners are left on Imrali Island, and this means
Ocalan is being kept somewhere else,” Osman Ocalan
says. “This has made us anxious and concerned about
Ocalan’s life.”
Osman Ocalan says that if anything happens to his
brother, there will be a bloodbath in Turkey and
eternal enmity between Turks and Kurds.
“But we don’t want that. We want good and democratic
relations,” Osman Ocalan says. “We want Turkey to
become a source of democracy, not bloodshed.”
Osman Ocalan urges the Turkish government to clarify
everything about his brother’s situation.
“We want Turkey to make everything clear through
Ocalan himself where he is allowed to speak directly
with his family and his lawyers,” Osman Ocalan says.
“Or for Turkey to give immediate and clear
information about Ocalan to his family and the
Kurdish nation.”
The jailed leader’s brother also requested leaders
of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to intervene to find
some assurance about Ocalan’s situation.
“I urge Jalal Talabani, the president of Iraq,
Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan
Region, and Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister,
to make efforts and get assurances from Turkey about
Ocalan’s health and safety,” Osman Ocalan says. “I
ask them to pay attention to Ocalan’s case.”In a
previous interview with Rudaw, Mehmet Ocalan,www.ekurd.net
a brother of Ocalan who lives in Turkey, said that
Kurdish rights are not protected by the law in
Turkey.
“Turkish laws do not give rights to Kurds,” he told
Rudaw. “We have no information on Ocalan’s health
and safety. According to the laws and prisoners’
rights, prisoners have the right to see their family
members at least once a month, but I have not seen
my brother for almost a year now.”
Mehmet Ocalan said that, up until several months
ago, he was able to get some news from relatives of
other prisoners, but now that has stopped too.
“European Union organizations do not carry out their
part of the responsibility,” he says. “This is a
dangerous attitude for the EU, politically and
legally.”
Emin Aktar, a lawyer and head of the Diyarbakir
Lawyers Association, told Rudaw, “The Turkish
authorities wanted to find a legal justification for
banning visits to Ocalan’s prison. They wanted to
pass a law for that purpose. They wanted to pass a
law that enabled judges to ban visits to a prisoner
for six months, but later dropped their efforts.”
Osman Ocalan, who resigned from the PKK in 2004,
says that the group does not seem concerned about
their leader’s situation in jail.
“As Ocalan’s family, we are anxious and live in
uncertainty, but the PKK, Ocalan’s party, is silent
and carefree,” he says.
Osman Ocalan says that the ways the PKK has tried to
put pressure on Turkey have all been very weak and
ineffective.
“The PKK has to put more pressure on Turkey through
civil and democratic actions, not attacks and armed
struggle,” he says.
In the past three years, Turkish police have
arrested thousands of political activists and
members of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) for
alleged connections with the PKK. Osman Ocalan
believes the PKK’s actions will only lead to more
tensions and arrests.
“Every day in Turkey, 25 activists are detained, and
the military operations against PKK guerrillas are
still going on in the mountains,” he says. “This is
wrong and Ocalan could find a more sustainable
solution for the Kurdish question in Turkey.”
Copyright © respective author or news agency,
rudaw.net
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
®
