The process that began following Abdullah Öcalan’s historic call on 27 February has now completed its first year. From the very beginning of the process, families have been particularly concerned about the situation of prisoners. The continued postponement of the release of political prisoners, seen as one of the most concrete indicators of sincerity expected by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, has drawn strong reactions from prisoners’ families.
Despite all the steps taken by Öcalan and the Kurdistan Freedom Movement to ensure that the process advances in a meaningful and constructive manner, the government’s persistent delays and the intensification of rights violations in prisons have further deepened public discontent toward those in power.
Nurten Karagöz, Co-Chair of the Marmara Association for Solidarity and Support with Families of Prisoners and Convicts (MATUHAY-DER), spoke to ANF about developments in prisons following Abdullah Öcalan’s call.
What happens in prisons shows whether there is a process
Nurten Karagöz said the government must take concrete steps for the process that began with Öcalan’s call to evolve into negotiations, stressing that the clearest indicator of whether a process truly exists is what is happening inside prisons.
Karagöz also said: “A process began on 27 February 2025 with the call of Mr. Öcalan. This was not a negotiation process; it was a dialogue process, but it needed to evolve into negotiations. Indeed, these discussions have been taking place in the most recent period. However, the most basic measure for understanding whether a process exists is the answer to the question of what is happening in prisons.
What has happened in prisons? In fact, there has been no real change. Unlawful practices continue. Bodies referred to as Administration and Observation Boards, whose exact nature is unclear, have been granted decisive authority and are now arbitrarily extending the sentences of people whose prison terms have already expired. This is an extremely arbitrary practice.
Under normal circumstances, people who should be released after completing their sentences are kept in prison on grounds such as not being deemed well-behaved, not showing remorse, not reading books, or not participating in social activities. What is particularly striking is this: in some prisons, there are no spaces where social activities can even take place. Such spaces are not created, yet people are told they did not participate in social activities in spaces that do not exist. On these grounds, sentences are extended by three months, six months, or even a year. In this way, time is taken from people’s lives; the time they could have lived is effectively confiscated.
One of the clearest signs that a process is not genuinely moving toward success is what is happening in prisons.”
All political prisoners must be released without delay
Nurten Karagöz said that sick prisoners must be released immediately and that all political prisoners should be freed without conditions, continuing as follows: “As the MATUHAY-DER, we have been saying this from the very beginning: first, sick prisoners must be released, and then all political prisoners must be freed without any conditions. Isolation practices are still ongoing; the isolation imposed on Mr. Öcalan, the Kurdish People’s Leader, also continues. This isolation has not been lifted. For there to be a genuine gesture of goodwill, the isolation must first be ended, and free working conditions must be created for Mr. Öcalan. If this does not happen, we cannot truly describe this as peace or as a genuine process. For a process, or a peace process, to be considered real, both these conditions must be met, and concrete steps must be taken to contribute to the construction of a democratic society.”
Nurten Karagöz said the construction of a democratic society is only possible through the participation of all people and stressed that the release of prisoners would be a significant step in this direction.
Karagöz said: “We speak of building a democratic society, but what is a democratic society? It is one in which every person living on this land can live together, with their own language, culture, traditions, customs, way of life, and relationship with nature, in peace and on democratic grounds. This is what we are calling for. Yet at the stage we have reached today, we see that this is not truly possible. We hope and wish that this process will lead to that outcome; that all prisoners in prisons are released as soon as possible. Only then can we believe and be convinced that the process is continuing in good faith.”
Rights violations in prisons continue
Nurten Karagöz said rights violations in prisons are ongoing and that pressure inside prisons has intensified, continuing as follows: “I can give examples from one or two prisons. At Bakırköy Prison, there were two wards where women were held; these wards were merged. In earlier meetings with the prison administration, the women prisoners had already stated that they could voluntarily merge the wards before the New Year. Yet on the morning of 19 December, a date that everyone in Türkiye who follows politics and prisons knows well, as it marks the day of a serious massacre carried out in prisons under the name ‘Return to Life’, riot police entered the wards. They went in with threats such as, ‘You have one hour to evacuate, or we will empty it by force.’
Secondly, at Elazığ Prison, there are serious instances of forced transfers and torture. There are pit-type prisons, places where people are, in effect, buried alive, with no means of communication whatsoever. Perhaps not physically, but ideologically, these are prisons designed to kill people.
At the same time, we also know this: while such intense torture is taking place in prisons, we see that the resistance is far greater and far stronger than these practices. We know they will not be able to break prisoners through this. The greater the torture, the greater the resistance becomes.”
Families support the process to the very end
Nurten Karagöz said prisoners’ families stand with Öcalan and support him, stressing that relatives of prisoners see Öcalan’s freedom as a fundamental condition for the process to move forward.
Karagöz said: “Prisoners’ families say that prisons must be emptied if they are to see whether the process is sincere. They say peace is only possible through the construction of a democratic society. Families express this very clearly: ‘As long as Mr. Öcalan is not free, prisons will not be emptied. They may be emptied, but others will simply be taken in their place.’
For this reason, this process must be successful. Despite having paid such heavy costs, and despite their children being held in prison for more than 30 years, families continue to insist on peace. They expect and demand that their children in prison be released as soon as possible. They are not opposed to the process; on the contrary, they say openly that they are its followers, supporters, and active subjects.”