AMED - Çiğdem Ertak from Rosa Women's Association stated that the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the "right to hope" was below expectations and said: "There is a possibility for an equal and just life in Turkey. Perhaps one of the most fundamental steps of this is to ensure the right to hope." 

 

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling that Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's "right to hope" has been violated has not been implemented for 11 years. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which convened on 15-17 September, gave Turkey a new deadline and asked Turkey to make arrangements within 9 months. 

 

For the implementation of the "right to hope" decision concerning 4 thousand prisoners, the Committee of Ministers pointed to the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission established in the Parliament and asked for a legal proposal to be prepared. 

 

Rosa Women's Association, which was among the organisations that sent a letter to the Committee of Ministers before the meeting with the demand to put pressure on Turkey for the legal guarantee of the "right to hope", stated that the Committee's decision was below expectations. 

 

Çiğdem Ertak, a lawyer member of the Association, stated that the Committee has been in the process of auditing Turkey to make regulations since 2021, but this audit continues with continuous time limits. She stated that the Committee should mobilise Turkey to make legal arrangements and that they found it important that the Committee pointed to the commission in the Parliament. 

 

'NECESSARY STEPS MUST BE TAKEN'

 

Çiğdem Ertak said that there is a systematic chaos in the world and in the Middle East, and that in this environment, the construction of an alternative life led by Abdullah Öcalan is being discussed, and that the hope for an alternative life cannot be raised in an environment where a fundamental right such as the "right to hope" is not discussed and the commission in the Parliament does not meet with Abdullah Öcalan. 

 

She said: "In order to build a democratic, egalitarian and just life, a fundamental principle such as the right to hope must be implemented and necessary legal arrangements and steps must be taken at this point. There is always a legal and legislative basis to ensure the 'right to hope'. There is the possibility of an equal and fair life in Turkey. Perhaps one of the most fundamental steps of this is to ensure the right to hope."

 

Çiğdem Ertak stated that the aggravated life imprisonment regime in Turkey deepens gender inequality and violates the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment in a multidimensional and profound manner, and that the "right to hope" is a social issue that is experienced in the case of Abdullah Öcalan and that has spread to thousands of prisoners.

 

"The DEM Party has a previous proposal on the right to hope. The fulfilment and enactment of that proposal has a quality that can produce a solution to this problem," she stated.  

 

'THE RIGHT TO HOPE MUST BE EXPLAINED TO THE SOCIETY'

 

Çiğdem Ertak stated that the legal dimension of this right or the grave human rights violations it causes should be explained to the society at the point of steps that will force the state to provide the "right to hope". 

 

She concluded: "Again, the visibility of these violations can be increased through new applications. Reports can be made in the context of non-governmental organisations and women's organisations, and studies can be carried out to ensure that this is understood and made visible."

 

MA / Rukiye Payiz Adıguzel