Öcalan's Lawyer: 'The Meeting Was Not Related to İstanbul Election Rerun'

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Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan met with his attorneys Newroz Uysal and Rezan Sarıca on May 2, for the first time in eight years.

The meeting which was held after 810 applications by the attorneys was announced to the public on May 6.

A few hours later in the day, the Supreme Election Council (YSK) stated that it annulled the local elections in İstanbul and a repeat election will be held.

The two announcements coming on the same day lead to a new debate with many political figures and journalists claiming that Öcalan's meeting with his attorneys was related to the İstanbul elections.

Felicity Party Chair Temel Karamollaoğlu said in his weekly meeting, "There is one single aim of the contact with Öcalan: Winning the İstanbul elections.

"The Kurdish problem cannot be solved with local elections"

Attorney Sarıca told bianet that there is no connection between the İstanbul election rerun and the meeting with Öcalan.

"Because they link the İstanbul election to the Kurds, I must say this: the Kurdish problem and Turkey's democratization problem are not issued that can be solved with a local election, with any general election or a court verdict.

"The briefing we gave to the press has neither have a relation to the YSK verdict nor to the elections. Anyway, the subject was not even Öcalan's agenda. He has been in İmralı [prison] for 20 years and determined his position and stance as the democratic solution."

"The claims mean they don't understand Öcalan"

Sarıca said that Öcalan's 20-year stance cannot be simplified as if it was about elections mean "not understanding and insisting on not understanding the issue."

"I evaluate such interpretation of the time difference between the meeting and the announcement as a superficial approach to a rooted issue," Sarıca remarked.

He added that the delay of the announcement of the meeting was delayed because they were not given the statement they requested during the meeting.

"I wish they could catch the historical development of the issue rather than viewing it superficially, the attorney said." (HA/VK)