In the newly reopened trial against Ayşe Gökkan, former spokesperson for the Kurdish women’s movement TJA, a court in Amed (tr. Diyarbakır) rejected the request for release from custody on Tuesday—even though both the prosecution and the defense had argued in favor of releasing the 60-year-old politician.
Gökkan is once again standing trial before the 9th High Criminal Court in Amed. The background is the partial overturning of several judgments by the Turkish Court of Cassation. The highest court had overturned earlier convictions for alleged PKK membership (twelve years and seven and a half years imprisonment) and for supporting the same organization (also seven years and six months). Only a three-year prison sentence for “terrorist propaganda” was upheld.
Solidarity support during the trial
The politician attended the hearing via video conferencing system from Sincan women’s prison to what is now the third main hearing of the new trial. Present in the courtroom were her lawyers Berfin Lütfiye Gökkan and Muharrem Şahin, relatives, DEM MP Saliha Aydeniz, and numerous supporters of the TJA.
Requests for release by the prosecution and defense
In its closing statement, the public prosecutor’s office requested that Gökkan be convicted again for membership in a terrorist organization, but at the same time argued for her release in view of the long period of pretrial detention. The defense also requested her release from prison. Lawyer Muharrem Şahin argued that there was no reliable evidence of Gökkan’s organizational involvement in the PKK. He said that his client’s statements were covered by freedom of expression and that the long period of detention was disproportionate.
Lawyer Berfin Lütfiye Gökkan pointed out the difficult conditions of her client’s detention. During her imprisonment, she contracted COVID-19, experienced the earthquake in Turkey from behind bars, was transferred from Amed to Ankara, lost her mother, and underwent two operations.
Court adjourns trial for another year
Despite the unanimous requests by the prosecution and defense, the court refused to release her from custody. However, the request for a deadline to respond to the plea was accepted. The next hearing is scheduled for March 26, 2026.
Ayşe Gökkan: Journalist, mayor, feminist
Ayşe Gökkan was born in Suruç district of Urfa in 1965 and studied journalism. In 2009, she was elected mayor of Mardin’s Nusaybin district with 83 percent of the vote. She has been arrested by the Turkish police more than 80 times in the course of her political career and has been remanded in custody several times. The investigations were generally based on “terrorism allegations” in connection with the PKK. At the time of her last and ongoing detention in January 2021 – currently in Sincan Women’s Prison near Ankara – more than 200 cases were pending against her, at least 167 of which were individual proceedings. Most of these trials relate to her term as mayor, while others concern her role as spokesperson for the Free Women’s Movement (TJA).