The Lingering Silence Surrounding Kurdish Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s Isolation
As Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan marks his 75th birthday on April 4, the veil of uncertainty shrouds his well-being. Since a disrupted phone call in March 2021 with his brother Mehmet Öcalan, there has been a deafening silence regarding his condition. Öcalan has been held in solitary confinement on Imrali Island since 1999, enduring what many describe as dire circumstances.
The lack of uproar following a report by AlphaNews.Live’s Elina Stamatiou is perplexing. The report, based on conversations with Öcalan’s lawyer Ibrahim Bilmez, highlights the apparent disregard for basic human rights by the Turkish authorities. The silence from global leaders, including those from Greece and Cyprus, is particularly striking. Despite the lawyer’s claim in the AlphaNews.Live report that Öcalan’s isolation equates to torture, the international community remains largely mute.
Öcalan’s treatment has been a test of the Kurdish people’s resilience, with tensions deliberately stoked within his cell. His decade-long solitary confinement on an island is seen by advocates as a severe form of torture. Yet, few voices outside the Kurdish community are raised in protest.
The last lawyer to visit Öcalan, nearly five years ago in August 2019, now reaches out through Stamatiou to Europe at large. He recalls Öcalan’s departure from Syria in 1999, not for self-preservation but to seek a diplomatic resolution to the Kurdish issue—a quest met with closed doors across Europe.
Bilmez’s appeal extends to all democratic entities in Cyprus, Greece, and Europe, urging them to recognize Öcalan’s peace efforts in the Middle East. He calls for solidarity with Öcalan and demands that his human rights be acknowledged, which he believes is crucial to ending the region’s turmoil.
According to Bilmez, Öcalan’s release is not just a matter of justice but also a necessary step towards participating in peace talks aimed at resolving the Kurdish problem and restoring stability in the Middle East. The question then arises: why does such a profound silence persist around Öcalan’s isolation and the violation of his rights?