Lawyers of Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), demanded investigation, claiming their client was being subjected to violence and death threats.

Özgür Erol, a lawyer from the Asrın Hukuk Bürosu (the Law Bureau of This Age), with whom bianet met about the subject, said they were planning to apply to the Ministry of Justice and the Office of Bursa Chief Prosecutor.

Öcalan’s lawyers had announced the matter at a press release held on October 15 and written the following statement based on Öcalan’s account:

“Öcalan’s room was completely messed up under the pretense of searching it. Taken to the next room during the procedure, he was manhandled when he tried to object to the process. This is a torture method. When Öcalan said, in reaction to the treatment, “they might as well kill him”, their answer was “in good time”, which was clearly a threat on his life showing that he might be killed.”

Justice Minister Şahin: I had it investigated

Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Şahin said he had the allegation investigated as soon as he heard it and found out  there was no bad treatment.

Those responsible are the Prime Ministry and the general Staff

Öcalan’s lawyers stated that subjecting Öcalan to violence will lead to clashes and tensions and help those who hope to benefit from these. They also said that it was intriguing that the staff of the İmralı Prison was changed right before this incident. According to them, Öcalan received solitary confinement ten times in three years and his hair was shaved off against his wish.

His lawyers pointed out to the fact that this treatment would not have taken place without the instructions the Crisis Center of the Prime Ministry and the General Staff.

One death in Doğu Beyazıt

After the above statement, the police fired in the air in a meeting at Doğubeyazıt in the province of Ağrı in the eastern Turkey. An injured Ahmet Özer was taken to the hospital, but could not be saved.

Protests in Diyarbakır during Erdoğan’s visit

There were demonstrations against the Prime Minister in the districts of Bağlar, Kayapınar, Yenişehir and Suriçi in Diyarbakır, an important center in the eastern Turkey. The shops did not open in Şırnak, Mardin, Batman, Hakkari and Urfa to protest Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit. In Yüksekova, a district of Hakkari, a police officer was injured and two demonstrators were taken into custody.

There were demonstrations in Mardin, Urfa, Antep, Siirt, Batman, Şırnak, Mersin, Adana, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir yesterday and in Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Van, Muş, Batman, Şırnak, Adana, Mersin and Istanbul the day before.

Close to forty vehicles were set on fire in the Göztepe neighborhood of Istanbul this morning (October 20). (TK/TB)