The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe announced that in September 2025 it will once again review whether the right to hope has been ensured for Abdullah Öcalan, Emin Gurban, Civan Boltan, and Hayati Kaytan.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) had already ruled that aggravated life sentences without any possibility of conditional release violate the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment under the European Convention on Human Rights.
In its judgment on 18 March 2014, the Court found that Abdullah Öcalan’s right to hope had been violated and called on Turkey to introduce legal amendments to guarantee this right. Similar rulings were later issued for Hayati Kaytan, Emin Gurban, and Civan Boltan.
However, despite the passage of 11 years since those decisions, Turkey has not made any legal changes.
Lawyer Ercan Kanar emphasized that as the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe discusses Abdullah Öcalan’s right to hope this month, the sentence of aggravated life imprisonment until death must be completely abolished from Turkish law.
Kanar also reflected on the solution process previously carried out in Turkey, stressing that profound changes must be made in the legislation.
Some European countries have even abolished life imprisonment
Ercan Kanar pointed out that the right to hope for freedom has been enshrined in the constitutional frameworks of many countries since the 19th century, recalling that the Constitutional Courts of Germany and Italy have emphasized the importance of this right in their rulings.
Kanar said, “No matter how severe the sentence a person receives, they must carry the hope of being freed one day. This is a fundamental human right.”
He noted that some European countries have even abolished life imprisonment, adding: “Countries such as Portugal, Spain, Norway, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina have removed ordinary life imprisonment from their legislation. In fact, Portugal and Spain achieved this in the second half of the 18th century.”
Kanar also underlined that ignoring the right to hope is regarded as a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which prohibits torture and ill-treatment. He further stressed that, according to the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, prison sentences should be reviewed after 8 to 14 years.
Kanar argued that Turkey’s legislation should also be restructured accordingly and stated: “Amendments must be made to guarantee the right to hope, and it should even be added to the Constitution. The sentence of aggravated life imprisonment until death, introduced into legislation after Öcalan was brought to Turkey, must be abolished. As a lawyer, I believe not only aggravated life imprisonment but also ordinary life imprisonment should be removed.”
Öcalan, like Mandela, must meet with everyone
Ercan Kanar stated that a general amnesty is necessary for a genuine peace process, recalling that when the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power there were 49,000 people in prisons, whereas today the number has risen to nearly 430,000. He said, “A general amnesty is a necessity.”
Kanar also stressed that the right to education in the mother tongue must be recognized, yet no statement has been made on this issue by the political authorities. He criticized the ineffectiveness of the parliamentary commission and said: “It gives the impression of a symbolic commission. Representatives from parties outside parliament, civil society organizations, and human rights groups should have been included.”
Kanar highlighted the example of South Africa’s peace process, recalling that Nelson Mandela was released from prison and allowed to meet with all segments of society, with the process carried out transparently. In Turkey, however, he noted that the process was conducted in secrecy from the public.
Finally, Kanar underlined the necessity of meeting with Öcalan: “As in the case of Mandela, all segments of society must take part in the process. Only in this way can genuine peace be achieved.”