Mother says she worries about his imprisoned son’s life

A mother whose son is imprisoned with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in Turkey's maximum-security prison on Imrali Island said she has not seen him in the past eight years and does not even know whether he is alive or not, Mezopotamya news agency reports.

Mother Faike Aktas's son, Veysi Aktas, along with two other detainees and Ocalan, are being held in the Imralı F-type maximum security prison, which has been under total isolation for 23 months. Due to disciplinary measures, the prisoners cannot exercise their right to weekly telephone calls with family members, the right to send and receive letters, or the right to be visited by their lawyers and family members.

Faike Aktas met with the International Delegation Against Isolation, an international body composed of 36 people from seven different European countries that recently made a three-day trip to Turkey, and described her problems:

"My son has been in prison for 28 years and I have not seen him for the last eight years. We can not even reach him by phone. He lost his father two months ago and could not even attend his funeral. We have no information about him. Before he was taken to Imrali Island, he used to call and I could visit him every 2-3 months. After he was taken there, I never saw him again. All our requests to see him were denied. We do not know if he is dead or alive."