In July, 69 Nobel laureates wrote to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the UN Human Rights Committee (OHCHR) against the isolation in İmralı. “We demand the release of Öcalan from İmralı and the resumption of suspended negotiations,” the letter said. 

 

The ECHR responded to Professor Kariane Westrheim of the University of Bergen on behalf of the Nobel laureates. In the August 29 letter, ECHR official Marialena Tsirli thanked Kariane Westrheim for bringing the issue of Abdullah Öcalan's detention conditions to their attention. 

 

Kariane Westrheim wrote a new letter to the ECHR in response. In the letter, she called on the court to fulfill its responsibility to send a delegation to İmralı. 

 

RESPONSE OF THE COMMITTEE OF WHITE MINISTERS

 

The letter addressed to the Committee of Ministers on behalf of the 69 Nobel Laureates was responded to by Lithuanian Foreign Minister and Chair of the Committee of Ministers Gabriellius Landsbergis. In his letter, Landsbergis stated that the 1507th meeting of the Committee of Ministers will examine the issue of Abdullah Öcalan's conditions of detention.

 

Kariane Westrheim responded to Landsbergis' in the letter and said Ministerial Committee should put pressure on Turkey. 

 

CPT'S RESPONSE THAT WE ARE MONITORING IMRALI

 

Responding to the letter of Spanish MP Jorge Pueyo Sanz, CPT President Alan Mitchell stated that the CPT closely monitors the situation of those held in İmralı and referred to the visit to İmralı in September 2022. Stating that the CPT is in dialogue with the Turkish authorities on the situation of Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners, Mitchell said that the Committee will continue to monitor the situation of those held in İmralı.