Two years after its original call for the end of the isolation regime for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and the release of all political prisoners in Turkey, the European Free Alliance (EFA) called for talks between Erdogan’s government and Kurdish authorities to resume in order to find a political solution that leads to a genuine coexistence of all communities and peoples in a democratic Turkey. 

Referring to the case of Leyla Güven, an MP for HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) and co-chair of the DTK (Democratic Society Congress), EFA recalled that Güven was released from prison in January 2019 following an 80-day hunger strike.

However, in December 2020, Güven was sentenced to 22 years in prison on terror charges. The HDP, Güven’s political party, said it would appeal against the sentence, calling it ‘a hostile act against all Kurds and the entire opposition.’ 

“Güven’s arrest and charge is representative of a history of oppression against the Kurdish population in Turkey. Today marks the 60th day of political prisoner hunger strikes, in which the strikers call for Turkey to end the isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Mr Abdullah Öcalan. He is currently being held in extreme conditions as the sole prisoner of a Turkish island jail, under a sentence of life without parole. Öcalan’s lawyers insist that both Turkish law and ‘international rules are not being applied’ in regard to his imprisonment,” EFA said.

EFA stated: “With Turkey actively seeking EU accession, the lack of democratic process and disregard for international law around prison conditions is concerning. The Turkish government’s use of extreme isolation and prison sentences for those who oppose the government must end.”

The European Free Alliance called for the end of the isolation regime for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and the release of all political prisoners in Turkey, adding; “Talks between Erdogan’s government and Kurdish authorities must resume in order to find a political solution that leads to a genuine coexistence of all communities and peoples in a democratic Turkey.”