Asrın Law Office issued a written statement regarding the meeting between their lawyers and Abdullah Öcalan, Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım, Ergin Atabey, and Murat Yamalak on İmralı Island on September 15.
The statement by Asrın Law Office, which advocates Abdullah Öcalan and his fellow prisoners in İmralı, includes the following:
“After a six-year interval, we held a lawyer meeting with Mr. Öcalan and our other clients at Imrali Prison on September 15, 2025. We provided comprehensive information regarding their legal status and the pending applications before national and international judicial bodies. On this occasion, we had the opportunity to learn their views and suggestions after a very long period of time. We would like to note that we found Mr. Öcalan to be quite strong and determined. The fact that the first lawyers’ visit to İmralı took place after 2019 is significant and highly meaningful. He also attributed meaning to the meeting within this framework and made it a subject of evaluation. In his assessment, he emphasized that the establishment of democratic law is a requirement of the rule of law and one of the fundamental objectives of the process.
Mr. Öcalan stated that the process of peace and democratic society has reached the stage of legal resolution. He expressed that Kurds have been excluded from the law as a phenomenon over the course of a century, and that they are trying to overcome this exclusion from the law. He expressed his insistence on coexistence within the framework of a democratic nation and his support for the project for a democratic republic. In this context, he also pointed out that the Kurdish issue has many political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions and requires legal resolutions that include interim laws at this stage. He expressed his desire and hope that the timing of the lawyers’ visit during this period, which can be defined as a transition period, would be seen as a sign that the gateway to the law is opening.
Demonstrating an approach commensurate with Mr. Öcalan’s role and status as an interlocutor is the fundamental responsibility of everyone who believes in the process of peace and a democratic society. On this occasion, we would like to note that the “Right to Hope,” which is on the agenda of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, is a structural problem in Turkish law, and that positive steps in this regard would constitute a fundamental step in the construction of a democratic legal system. Mr. Öcalan has asked us to convey his deepest regards to everyone who inquires about him, who believes in the process of peace and democratic society that they are pursuing, and who works and strives for this cause, especially the political prisoners behind bars.”