Behind the scenes of Bahçeli’s ‘right to hope’ move: A bill that could free Öcalan was submitted to Parliament 1 month ago!

It has emerged that a legislative proposal providing for the release of Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the terrorist organization PKK, was submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) on September 25, 2024.

Commenting on the matter on his social media account, 12punto columnist and lawyer Mehmet Ruşen Gültekin drew attention to the ‘right to hope’ brought to the agenda by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, stating, “The baby killer, whose 25-year term was completed in February 2024, could be released.”

With this legislative proposal, the possibility of the terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan being released has come to the fore.

Ruşen Gültekin noted that the first signature on the proposal belongs to a deputy from the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), emphasizing that the bill has been in the justice and interior commissions for 3 weeks.

“IF YOU HAVE THE NERVE, PASS IT AND LET US SEE”

In his statement on his personal social media account, Gültekin used the following expressions:

"The legislative proposal that would free the Terror Leader Öcalan, who founded the armed PKK terrorist organization to destroy the Republic of Turkey and led an uprising that was suppressed at the cost of the blood of thousands of martyrs and veterans, was submitted to the parliamentary commission on September 25, 2024. This is what they call the RIGHT TO HOPE. The baby killer, whose 25-year term was completed in February 2024, could be released. The first signature is from a DEM deputy. The bill has already been in the justice and interior commissions for 3 weeks. If you have the nerve, pass it and let us, as the Turkish nation, see it."

WAITING IN THE JUSTICE COMMISSION

The legislative proposal titled “Making amendments to certain laws for the evaluation of conditional release conditions in the 25th year of the execution of aggravated life imprisonment,” which was submitted to the Parliamentary Justice Commission on September 25 by DEM Party Group Deputy Chairperson and Erzurum Deputy Meral Danış Beştaş, has returned to the agenda. Beştaş's proposal is currently awaiting action on the agenda of the Justice Commission.

WHAT IS IN THE PROPOSAL?

In the general justification of the legislative proposal, Beştaş summarized the following points:

“The death penalty was abolished in Turkey in 2004 and replaced by aggravated life imprisonment. Article 2 of the provisional articles of the Turkish Penal Code stipulated that terrorist offenders who were subject to the death penalty would be deprived of the right to conditional release. Aggravated life imprisonment is quite harsh in terms of execution conditions, and convicts are kept only in single-person cells.

This sentence has been evaluated by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as contrary to human dignity. The ECHR emphasizes that life imprisonment without the hope of release violates the prohibition of torture. In its 2014 Öcalan/Turkey judgment, the ECHR stated that the application of aggravated life imprisonment without the possibility of conditional release constitutes inhuman treatment. Before the Öcalan judgment, the ECHR also evaluated the right to hope in its judgment of July 9, 2013, in Vinter and Others v. the United Kingdom, stating that life imprisonment should be reviewed at a maximum of 25 years and that the conditions for the release of prisoners should be evaluated. It is indisputable that the judgments rendered by the ECHR are binding on Turkey pursuant to Article 90 of the Constitution.

Despite the ECHR judgments, Turkey has not made changes to its legislation. The Council of Europe has initiated a supervision process regarding Turkey. In line with the ECHR judgments, Turkey needs to establish a review mechanism regarding aggravated life imprisonment. Organizations such as the Association of Lawyers for Freedom have applied to the Council of Europe for the implementation of these judgments. Turkey has acknowledged that the execution regime applied to Öcalan is an 'exception.' Aggravated life imprisonment means life imprisonment without a specific term, and this situation creates negative psychological effects on convicts. When the right to hope is not granted, prisoners are pushed outside the law. The implementation of ECHR judgments is necessary to ensure an execution regime consistent with human dignity. Therefore, it is necessary to reorganize aggravated life imprisonment and make changes in line with the perspective of release.”