Lawyer Şahin: 'Öcalan predicted that isolation would spread'

Lawyer Muharrem Şahin was able to meet Öcalan before 2011. He reminded that the Kurdish people's leader said that the isolation will not be limited to Imralı.

Lawyer Muharrem Şahin underlined that Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan never prioritized himself and always said: "I may be in prison mentally, but physically I don't see myself in prison."

The indefinite-alternating hunger strike launched by PKK and PAJK prisoners in Turkish prisons on 27 November to demand an end to the aggravated isolation imposed upon Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan continues. Muharrem Şahin, one of the lawyers who could meet with the Kurdish people's leader before 20 July 2011, when visits were allowed albeit at discretion, spoke to ANF about how the isolation was evaluated by Öcalan then and the reflection of those evaluations on society today.

Pointing out that the Kurdish people's leader never had a problem with isolation except when it affected his minimum and mandatory needs, lawyer Şahin added that he never considered himself as a priority.

Lawyer Şahin recalled Öcalan as saying ‘I am not a priority. There are more urgent problems than me’ and added that he only wanted a space where he could breathe.

Lawyer Şahin continued: "Mr Öcalan always said, 'I may be mentally in prison, but physically I do not see myself in prison.' He even shared very little of the difficult conditions he was held in. He had his hair forcibly cut and he had problem of ventilation. He always emphasized the chaos that isolation will cause. In our previous statements, we had said that if the isolation is continued, the chaos will spread to the whole Middle East. Moreover, as Mr. Öcalan wrote in his defense in 2006, chaos has spread to Syria, Rojava, Iraq, Iran and other countries. He pointed out the chaos to be experienced in the countries of the region. In fact, he always showed the external reflections isolation will have."

Today we are living what he predicted

Stating that the Kurdish people's leader had analysed and predicted the chaotic environment that may be experienced in the region years ago and had offered suggestions for a solution, lawyer Şahin continued: “Mr. Öcalan had political ties with the countries in the region before he was brought to Imralı. He was able to read the signals of the chaos that might affect the Middle East in the future. That is why they had suggestions on how this chaos would end even under conditions of isolation. So solutions that have been presented to Turkey are also valid for countries in the region such as Syria and Iraq. Mr. Öcalan had already warned in 2006 that ‘if you do not follow these solution proposals, what can happen will have disastrous consequences.’ Ultimately, we all witnessed these disastrous results. And today we are experiencing exactly what he said it would happen in Syria. Today we are witnessing everything he predicted."

The government did not listen to the solution proposal

Underlining that the Kurdish people's leader developed a solution proposal for problems that could not be solved for decades, lawyer Şahin said: "Failure to implement these proposals is due to the protection of the rulers and their economic interests. The majority of the Kurdish people have followed the solution projects presented by Mr. Öcalan. The organization he leads has followed suit. However, these are solution projects that could be very easily applicable to the state. But the state rejects them, because the structures that have an interest in the deadlock do not want the solution to succeed. The state could not turn the solution process in its favour because it could not overcome its deep contradictions, and at the current stage, there is a political climate that does not benefit anyone."

We need a new solution process

Emphasizing that the perspective and solution proposals presented by Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan will contribute to the solution of the tension and increasing problems in the society, lawyer Muharrem Şahin added: “We have seen this in the previous solution process. The same process is needed now. Because this problem is not only between one party and the ruling party, it concerns everyone living in Turkey. For this, Mr. Öcalan offers the easiest solution. In the previous period, at least the society attained peace and prosperity. Society is in urgent need of this right now. Otherwise, we will have no democracy, justice, law."