Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

No worries. I am always on the left.

The Minister of State is very welcome. Last Sunday, thousands of protesters across Diyarbakr in Türkiye defied police restrictions and gathered to demand the release of imprisoned Kurdish leader, Abdullah Öcalan, and a democratic resolution to the Kurdish issue. The protestors mobilised in different areas of the city, resisting a ban imposed on the rally by the authorities. They chanted slogans and called for an end to Öcalan's isolation and the oppressive policies of the state.

It is a matter of record that Öcalan was a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party and led it into the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in 1984. He was abducted from Nairobi in Kenya in February 1999 by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization and has been imprisoned on mral Island in Türkiye ever since. He was sentenced to death following his original trial. That sentence was commuted to aggravated life imprisonment when Türkiye abolished the death policy. It is important to note that in 2005 the European Court of Human Rights ruled Türkiye had violated Articles 3, 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing to allow Öcalan to appeal his arrest and by sentencing him to death without a fair trial. Öcalan's request for a retrial was refused by Turkish courts. He is a political prisoner who has advocated for peace since the 1993 PKK ceasefire. He has spent most of his 25 years in prison in almost complete isolation. For many years he was the only prisoner on the island, with 1,000 troops guarding him.

I do not believe I or the Minister of State could possibly comprehend the horrors of that isolation. Two weeks ago I had the privilege of being in the room for Julian Assange's first public appearance since his release from prison. Speaking about isolation he said:

The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey. It strips away one's sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence".

From July 2011 to May 2019, Öcalan's lawyers were not allowed to see him. From July 2011 to December 2017, his lawyers filed more than 700 appeals for visits but all were rejected. His last direct contact with lawyers took place in August 2019, which is five years ago, while his latest communication with a family member was a brief phone call in the spring of 2021 and that was suddenly curtailed by prison authorities. We have no idea of the toll all this has taken on Öcalan, who is now 75 years of age, or if he is even alive. The Committee for the Prevention of Torture stated in August that it had visited mral Prison nine times so far, with the last visit taking place in September 2022. Upon being asked why the report of this last visit had not been published, the CPT responded it had not received authorisation from Türkiye.The CPT made its concerns about the situation of Mr. Öcalan and the other prisoners on mral island clear, also stating the fact that he is being held in solitary confinement for 159 hours out of 168 hours per week is a state of affairs that is not acceptable. It is also important to note that in 2014 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the life sentence of Öcalan violates the principle of the European Convention's right to hope.

While all this is going on, Türkiye continues to use oppression against those struggling for democratic rights within the state and externally. Kurdish political leaders are subject to imprisonment, with literally centuries of sentences being placed upon them, European Court of Human Rights rulings are routinely ignored and the autonomous state of north and east Syria, whose forces were key to defeating Isis, remains under attack. Just last Thursday, two children aged five and nine were murdered by Turkish forces.

What can our Government do to raise the case of Mr. Öcalan and to make the case for democratic dialogue and a peaceful resolution of all these issues?