While the Peace and Democratic Society Process continues, no serious changes have been made in the conditions of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who initiated the process with his call for peace and democratic society. Interviews, which give the impression of being restricted, are still subject to the authorisation of the Ministry of Justice. 

 

Lawyers' Association for Freedom (ÖHD) member lawyer Lokman Şaman stated that periodic meetings do not mean that the isolation has been lifted. Emphasising that the isolation in İmralı continues "with a special legal order of a political nature", Şaman said: "The meetings held in İmralı are too limited. One of the main reasons why a healthy peace process cannot be carried out is the ongoing isolation in İmralı. Apart from that, as part of the right to hope, Mr Abdullah Öcalan has left behind 27 years of imprisonment and there are still political legal practices going on. We believe that they should be lifted as soon as possible and Mr Abdullah Öcalan should be included in the commission's work for peace and the construction of a democratic society."

 

Şaman added: "In these physical meetings, either the commission should go to İmralı and hold a meeting or Mr Abdullah Öcalan should be present in person at the commission and conduct the solution process in a transparent manner. Otherwise, the state will talk about a unilaterally conducted solution process. As long as this solution process is carried out unilaterally, it will not be able to maintain its seriousness and will cast a serious shadow on the sincerity of the solution process."

 

'NO CONCRETE STEPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN YET'

 

Şaman said that the prevention of the Kurdish speech of the mothers of those who lost their lives in the clashes by the " Commission on National Solidarity, Fraternity and Democracy" established within the scope of the process on the grounds of the internal regulations of the Parliament undermined the seriousness of the process. Stating that one of the most fundamental elements in the construction of a democratic society is the principle of equal citizenship, "The principle of equal citizenship includes the right to education in the mother tongue. The fact that the Mothers of Peace cannot speak Kurdish in the commission and that the chairman of the commission sees this as an obstacle to the internal regulations seriously casts a shadow on the process," he said. 

 

Stating that the work of the commission is valuable, Şaman concluded: "However, the main thing is that the peace is permanent and a permanent path is taken in the construction of a democratic society. The work of the commission continues in the parliament, but Öcalan's conditions for working freely are still not fulfilled, and the isolation continues de facto."

 

MA / Abdülkadir Ayten