Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-000153/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Loucas Fourlas (PPE)
It is widely known that Mr Öcalan has been repeatedly tortured by the Turkish authorities and Ankara’s secret services. He has been held in inhumane conditions for nearly three decades, kept apart from his family, friends and lawyers.
At the moment, Mr Erdogan and Mr Bahçeli are attempting to ‘exploit’ him as, according to reports, they negotiate the conversion of his life imprisonment into house arrest. The condition for this is the announcement of the dissolution of the PKK and a request to the Kurds of Türkiye and Syria to obey Ankara. The issue is not whether the Kurdish organisation is a terrorist one or not. This move very clearly constitutes political intimidation and interference in justice.
In view of this:
- 1.How does the Commission view the intervention of Türkiye’s state officials in the realm of justice? To what extent does the intervention comply with European principles and the rule of law?
- 2.What is the Commission’s reaction to the crude intimidation by the Turkish state, which is negotiating the freedom of a detainee by intimidating him and placing him in dilemmas that have nothing to do with legal process?
Submitted: 15.1.2025