The Colemêrg (Hakkari) Bar Association has applied to the Ministry of Justice and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) to be granted a visit with Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is kept under heavy isolation in the Imralı F Type High Security Closed Prison.

The application, made by 7 lawyers who are members of the Colemêrg Branch of the Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD), said that the lawyers’ professional activities were prevented. The lawyers wrote on 30 November: “In order to end the severe isolation conditions in Imrali F Type High Security Closed Prison, to lift the ban on lawyers, to ensure the rights of clients as granted by both domestic and international legislation, and to ensure the fulfillment of the duty of any lawyer, legal initiatives and applications should be made to the relevant authorities, primarily the Union of Turkish Bar Associations and the Ministry of Justice.”

The Colemêrg Bar Association Board of Directors stated that the application was resolved on 11 January and applied to the Ministry of Justice and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB).

The Bar Association said: "The fact that lawyers are not allowed to meet with their clients in Imrali F Type High Security Closed Prison goes against Article 36 of the Constitution and the European Court of Human Rights convention.”