24.04.2025 13:50
The meeting between Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç and the DEM Party delegation for İmralı has concluded. After the meeting, DEM Party Deputy Group Chair Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit stated, "We emphasized the importance of some writers and journalists visiting the island to meet with Öcalan. We expressed that the ministry needs to take swift action on this matter."
The meeting of the DEM Party's Imralı delegation with Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç, which was postponed, took place today. The meeting lasted for 2 hours.
After the meeting, DEM Party's Koçyiğit made a statement, saying: "This meeting was actually planned after our delegation's meeting with the President. Unfortunately, we postponed it due to the illness of our Imralı delegation member and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Sırrı Süreyya Önder, and we held this meeting today without them. On this occasion, we would like to once again convey our best wishes to our friend Sırrı Süreyya Önder, our Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, and our Imralı delegation member, who is resisting his illness in bed."
Due to the discussions that started in October, we had the opportunity to talk broadly about the contributions this will make to the process and the legal regulations. I would like to express that our primary topic of discussion is the working conditions and health conditions of Mr. Öcalan, who is in Imralı and has opened the door to a new era in Turkey with the call of February 27, enabling us to take a new leap in the democratic resolution of the Kurdish issue.
"WE WILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO SEE SOME DEVELOPMENTS"
In this regard, we expressed to the Minister that under the conditions of isolation, Mr. Öcalan cannot contribute to this process, and that the conditions of Mr. Öcalan are the most important issue for the advancement of the process, and that these conditions need to be improved immediately and without any conditions. I believe we will have the chance to see some developments in the upcoming period.
ÖCALAN WANTED TO MEET WITH SOME JOURNALISTS IN IMRALI
In addition, we emphasized the importance of different delegations, various members of parliament, different political parties, intellectuals, writers, and journalists visiting there, and again, the importance of some intellectuals, writers, and journalists that Mr. Öcalan wants to see and meet with going to the island and being in contact with him. In this sense, we expressed that the ministry needs to take swift action on this matter.
"ONE OF THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES FOR US IS SICK PRISONERS"
There are very broad issues related to the justice system in Turkey. We had the opportunity to address these comprehensively. One of the most fundamental issues for us is the topic of sick prisoners currently in prison. We all know that this is neither humane, nor moral, nor legal. In this sense, we expressed our views and thoughts on the need for a rapid regulation regarding sick prisoners and the immediate release of those who have received forensic medicine reports.
REGULATION OF THE INFAZ PACKAGE
We conveyed our demands on this issue to them. Again, in the public eye, known as the 'Covid Law', which actually regulates the conditional release conditions from prison during the Covid pandemic, but excludes organized crimes, there is a regulation of an infaz package. We expressed that the issue of excluding organized crimes should be eliminated and that a truly inclusive and equitable approach should be adopted. Also, especially in the upcoming infaz package, you know that there was a provision regarding committing crimes on behalf of an organization without being a member of the organization, which the Constitutional Court had previously annulled. The Constitutional Court had returned this, but unfortunately, it was passed in the same way as it came from the Parliament. Now we have received some information about its inclusion in the package again. We have expressed our expectation that this must be eliminated without any conditions, as it is absolutely unacceptable, and that a regulation in accordance with the Constitutional Court's decision should be made.
In this sense, especially one of the biggest problems is that prisoners in prison, despite having served their sentences, remain in prison due to completely subjective and arbitrary reasons based on the decisions of the Administrative Observation Board. We expressed that this issue, the reform of these administrative observation boards, their review, and the democratization of these boards should be addressed, and that all decisions of these observation boards should be made based on criteria, that is, objective criteria. We stated that in the upcoming first package, a regulation should be included to ensure that these observation boards, which actually serve as a second mechanism of punishment, are democratized, that their structure is democratized, and that their decisions are made according to objective criteria.