PKK Leader Condemns Paris Killings, His Brother Says

Mehmet Öcalan, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's brother, headed to Imrali island yesterday morning to pay a visit on his jailed brother who is solitary confinement in the island's prison. He was accompanied by Medine Kaymaz and Pervin Oduncu whose relatives were also serving in prison for terrorism charges.

Returning from the island, Mehmet Öcalan has been received by a an army of journalists asking him about the visit. He said the visit's main theme was sorrow on 3 slain Kurdish politicians.

"My brother told me how sorry he was for 3 slain Kurdish politicians in Paris," Öcalan said. "He called it a second Dersim Massacre [an air strike on hundreds of Kurdish civilians by Turkish Air Force due to a rebellion in the late 1930s] and demanded the culprits to be found immediately."

Mehmet Öcalan reiterated his brother's words saying that the murders could be a "sign". Commenting on the negotiation process with Turkish government, he said his brother would make a statement when the anticipated visit with other Kurdish leaders takes place.

Following Mehmet Öcalan's statement, several journalists inquired on the recently installed TV in Abdullah Öcalan's cell. "My brother didn't request for a TV," Mehmet Öcalan said. "The prison administration insisted that it would be installed."

At the same, other inmates visited their beloved ones as well, with the exception of Bayram Kaymaz who protested that the visiting durations were recently shortened.

Yesterday, Imrali prison also received a commission of prison watch association who held a brief investigation on the prison conditions. (HK)