ISTANBUL - Lawyers of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan applied to Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to meet with their clients.

 

The lawyers of Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was held under severe isolation conditions in İmralı F Type High Security Closed Prison, applied to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office with a request to meet with their client.

 

Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office imposed a six-month visit ban on September 23, 2020, on the grounds of the "Road Map" prepared by Abdullah Öcalan in addition to his defense submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2009. While no positive or negative response was given to the applications, it was revealed that a new disciplinary punishment was imposed in January after the rejection of the application made by lawyers in March.

 

Rezan Sarıca and Newroz Uysal, one of Abdullah Öcalan's lawyers, last met with their clients on May 2-22, June 12-18 and August 7, 2019, after eight years.

 

Two ‘conversations’ in 22 years

 

The PKK leader, who has been kept under heavy isolation conditions in İmralı for 22 years, was given the right to speak by phone for the first time on April 27, 2020. Abdullah Öcalan talked to his brother Mehmet Öcalan on the phone again on March 25, when public concerns grew as a result of some posts on social media, but Mehmet Öcalan announced that this conversation was interrupted.