Duran Kalkan, a member of the KCK Executive Council, spoke about various issues in a recent long interview. Among other things, Kalkan spoke about the isolation imposed on the Kurdish people's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, and said that "the CPT is a committee that legitimizes torture."

Kalkan said: "This is not an ordinary situation there [on the Turkish prison island of Imrali]. It is a very important situation that concerns not only the Kurds but all oppressed peoples, especially women and the working population. A historical struggle is taking place there. The isolation [of Abdullah Öcalan] is implemented on this basis. There are no new developments with regards to the isolation. There have been absolutely no changes. The political agenda in Turkey is changing, there are the upcoming elections and the ongoing war. It is debatable whether these things are really changing anything. These things happen, but is there really a change with regards to the political agenda? We think that this needs to be discussed. Real politics are not changing. There is no change in Imrali and in the torture, isolation and genocide system. But these are the real factors that determine politics in Turkey."

Kalkan added: "Now, there is lots of talk about the upcoming elections.  Yet,  there  are no changes. There was the issue of the CPT going to Imrali, which has been discussed since last September. Finally, the CPT announced that it had finished its report and had sent it to the Turkish administration in March [2023]. This is the last statement on the isolation, the Imrali torture and genocide system. But there is no information about the content of this report. There is no information about what is included in it and what isn’t. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture simply says ‘we sent it to them, the rest is up to the Turkish state’. That is, to the AKP-MHP fascist government. In other words, it is up to those who implement this isolation, the system of oppression and genocide in Imrali. The rest, they say, is up to them. Whether they publish it or not, whether they provide accurate information about its content or not. This is a remarkable situation. They [AKP-MHP government] are the ones who impose the isolation and run this system. If the CPT has taken decisions regarding the torture situation in Imrali during its visit to Turkey, there is no point in telling the AKP-MHP fascist dictatorship or the Turkish state about this. Because they are the ones doing all this. Those who are doing it, of course, know what is happening. What is the point of telling them what they are doing? They are doing all this on purpose. They [CPT] say that these are their rules, but we really cannot understand these rules. This has nothing to do with freedom and democracy and cannot be considered to be rules. If there is going to be a decision on the practices of the Turkish state and the AKP-MHP government in Imrali, this should at least be announced by the CPT. The CPT needs to create pressure, and its report should be sent to more institutions. It sends it to the perpetrator as if they didn’t know, and says that they are free to do whatever they want with it. They are the ones carrying out torture and implementing the isolation. Therefore, they won’t do anything." 

Kalkan continued: "They will just put the report on the shelf. The CPT has made this statement in order to relieve the pressure created by the protests of the Kurdish people and their international friends. But this did not work. It looks like they are doing something, but in fact they are not. There is deception and trickery involved. Thus, the CPT has given itself away more and more. It should not be like this. This is what the current situation looks like: The Imrali system is carried out in collaboration [of the Turkish state and international powers and institutions]. For 25 years, the isolation and torture of Kurds and the Imrali system have been carried out in collaboration. For more than 2 years, the complete isolation has also been carried out in collaboration.

Nevertheless, we need to expose them. This is a so-called legal system and democratic rule of law. But, all of this has nothing to do with democracy. There cannot be such a law that actually gives all kinds of authority to the torturer. The persecuted and the oppressed do not have any rights. It looks like there are rights, but in fact this [CPT] is a committee that legitimizes torture and cannot say anything to the torturers. So how will this committee prevent torture if it doesn’t say anything to the torturer? The situation on Imrali is not only the work of the Turkish state. It also reveals today’s state of European democracy and law. There is a unity [among these forces], and we need to emphasize this. We must not give up the legal struggle, but the main thing is, of course, the ideological and political struggle. The protests and activities continue. Lately, there have been important initiatives. All over the world, Kurdish people, their international friends, revolutionary democratic forces and intellectuals are standing up and marching for the freedom of Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan]. In other words, there is an attitude of support and unity of action for Leader Apo spreading from Amara [the village where Abdullah Öcalan was born] to all four corners of the world. The April 4th celebrations [birthday of Abdullah Öcalan] were indeed numerous and strong. They show how society, the Kurdish people and democratic circles are united with Leader Apo. Shortly after that, an important conference was held in Hamburg where Leader Apo’s ideas were discussed under the title ‘Challenging Capitalist Modernity’. Undoubtedly, the idea that challenges capitalist modernity is the theory of democratic modernity. Leader Apo developed this theory, which was discussed at this conference. Very important and serious discussions took place there among the world’s intellectuals, democratic revolutionary forces and libertarian democratic circles. This means that even though AKP-MHP fascism, with the support of the CPT, Europe and NATO, has tried to impose an unprecedented isolation, Leader Apo has broken this isolation. He has broken the walls of Imrali. He has thus shared his thoughts with women, youths, workers, laborers and all oppressed people all over the world. Support for Leader Apo is growing and spreading like an avalanche all over the world today. The efforts to understand, adopt, integrate and put into practice the thoughts and thesis of Leader Apo is growing like an avalanche and spreading all over the world. This includes all the oppressed, especially women. This is what is important, what is essential. This is what will destroy the Imrali torture and isolation system. This happened in a much more comprehensive way on the occasion of Leader Apo’s birthday this year. And it will continue in the future. In fact, it is precisely this struggle that determines politics and will bring about lasting results. This struggle will destroy the Imrali torture and isolation system, tear down the walls of Imrali, destroy fascism, make Turkey democratic and Kurdistan free. Thus, it will make the most important contribution in history to humanity’s march towards freedom."