Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. It is clear that he has been following this matter very closely for a long period. He has a great deal of general information and also background information about the person directly involved, including where things have been, the visits, and the isolation. I cannot possibly appreciate how bad it is. I hear what the Senator is saying, and he knows it too, but to be in solitary confinement for a long number of years is beyond comprehension for most of us. As he said, Mr. Öcalan's last visit was more than two years ago, and he has been in this one prison for 25 years. That is a phenomenal thing. I do not know how his mind copes with that.

Ireland remains concerned regarding the case of Abdullah Öcalan, who has been in prison on the Turkish island of mral since 1999. Türkiye is a fellow member of the Council of Europe and a candidate for European membership. Ireland has made clear, both bilaterally and multilaterally, our concerns regarding human rights in Türkiye, including in relation to prisoners and the implementation of rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. In the case of Mr. Öcalan, in 2005 the court ruled that Türkiye had violated Articles 3, 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing to allow him to appeal his arrest and by sentencing him to death without a fair trial. In 2014, the court ruled that Türkiye breached the European Court of Human Rights by excluding the possibility of parole.

As a member of the Oireachtas delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE, Senator Gavan will be aware of the Council of Europe's extensive engagement on this area, which Ireland fully supports. Our permanent representative to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg closely follows this particular case. In a 2019 report, the Council of Europe committee for the prevention of torture stated that the restrictions on Mr. Öcalan in the prison on the island were not acceptable. In March 2023, the same committee published a report on its visit to the high-security prison where Mr Öcalan and three other inmates are being held. The report stated that detention conditions had significantly improved, if you do not mind, for Mr Öcalan and were satisfactory for the three other inmates. However, the committee expressed serious concern that the prisoners’ contact with the outside world had been further limited in that period, and that Mr Öcalan had not been allowed to receive visits from his family or lawyers. I consider that a basic flaw in the whole system, despite the report stating that his conditions have improved.

At EU level, human rights are fundamental to all aspects of EU membership. Ireland is fully supportive of the EU's engagement with Türkiye on this. The EU regularly highlights the human rights situation in Türkiye through public statements, Council conclusions, the European Commission's annual reports, and in bilateral engagements with Türkiye. As an EU member state, Ireland will continue to support this proactive approach.

The Irish Embassy in Ankara engages regularly on the wider Kurdish issue and the Kurdish people’s ongoing pursuit of greater autonomy. It is clear that this can only be addressed through dialogue aimed at establishing a peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution. Ireland has called for the resumption of such a dialogue in order to allow the political process to resume. Recent remarks by Turkish President Erdoan on the need for improved political co-operation to reach consensual compromises to national problems are encouraging. Ireland will continue to support efforts to maintain contacts between Kurdish community representatives and the Turkish authorities through our funding of the Democratic Progress Institute’s Türkiye programme.As a candidate country for EU membership and a long-standing member of the Council of Europe, it is important for the Turkish authorities to follow up on the recommendations of the European Commission and the Council of Europe, as well as the rulings in respect of the European Court of Human Rights.