The protests initiated by the relatives of the prisoners, demanding the end of the isolation imposed on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, ensuring his physical freedom and the solution of the Kurdish issue, continue. In this context, many relatives of prisoners came to Ankara from Mêrdin (Mardin-Kurdistan) and Êlih (Batman-Kurdistan) and met with the Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç with the demand "Ensure justice and enforce the law." Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Deputies Meral Danış Beştaş, Ali Bozan and Newroz Uysal Aslan also accompanied the relatives of prisoners.

 

THERE WILL BE A MEETING AFTER THE EID

 

During the meeting, relatives of prisoners informed Minister Tunç about the obstacles to the release of ill prisoners and the executions. Tunç said he would meet with the families again after the eid. Making a short statement after the meeting, Meral Danış Beştaş said: “The Human Rights Investigation Commission meeting will start soon. The Minister of Justice is also here. We want to discuss with him the rights violations in prisons and the situation of ill prisoners. Our mothers came from different provinces. Every Wednesday, relatives of prisoners and ill prisoners meet in Ankara. They come to meet the Minister of Justice and convey their suggestions and demands to solve the issues. This process has been going on for several weeks. The minister has not been contacted until now. But today, before the commission meeting, this meeting was held with the Minister of Justice along with the mothers."

 

MOTHERS SUBMITTED THEIR DEMANDS

 

Beştaş stated that she conveyed the demands of the mothers and said: "He (the Minister) also said that they will follow this situation. But this is not an issue that will end with just a discourse or a meeting. Currently, the most important issue in Turkey is rights violations and practices such as torture in prisons. Our first demand is that ill prisoners must not be left to die, it is urgent. Our demand, which must be resolved quickly, is the acceptance of the fact that prisons are not the place for ill prisoners, and the removal of the ATK and prosecutor's office obstacles to sending them to their families. Because prison monitoring boards make decisions like the judiciary and sometimes grant 3-year extensions. We want these to end together with the families. We met with the Minister of Justice together with our mothers and conveyed these demands. He promised to meet with families and mothers again after the eid. We will follow this process and will not give up.”

 

COMMISSION MEETING

 

After the meeting, Tunç attended the meeting of the Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission. Tunç responded to the demand of the relatives of prisoners to attend the meeting by saying, “We met here, we will meet again later. The meeting room is already small. There is no room." 

 

Representatives of the Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD), Human Rights Association (İHD), Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), Detainee and Convict Families Legal Solidarity Associations (TUHAD-FED) and Ankara Bar Association Human Rights Center also attended the meeting upon the invitation of the DEM Party.

 

DEM Party members carried photographs of ill prisoners in the meeting hall. The photo of 83-year-old ill prisoner Makbule Özer was also carried.