ÖCALAN : Jailed PKK leader to be moved to larger cell, BDP leader says
19 August 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL – Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) leader Selahattin Demirtaş has said that jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan will be moved to a larger cell.
Speaking to the Fırat news agency, which is known to be close to the PKK, Demirtaş said the prison conditions of Öcalan, who is currently negotiating with the Turkish state to settle the decades-old Kurdish problem, should be improved.
Öcalan, imprisoned on İmralı Island in the Sea of Marmara, south of İstanbul, since his capture in 1999, has significant influence among PKK members and supporters. The Turkish state believes that talks with the terrorist leader may result in the PKK terrorists’ eventual laying down of their weapons.
“A change in Öcalan’s prison conditions will affect the course of the process. Öcalan should be allowed to meet with intellectuals, writers, media members and wise people,” Demirtaş told Fırat, adding that Öcalan can better contribute to the process under different prison conditions.When asked about the health of the PKK leader, Demirtaş said he is currently in good health, but complained that Öcalan, who is 65 years old, is living in a damp cell on an island. Öcalan will be moved to a larger cell, the BDP leader stated.