Brother meets Abdullah Ocalan in prison

The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, has been allowed to meet his brother in prison on an island near Istanbul after a hunger strike led by a pro-Kurdish party MP against his prison conditions.

Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies, has been serving a life sentence on the Imrali island prison since his capture in 1999.

According to Middle East Eye Ocalan met with his brother Mehmet on Saturday for the first time in more than two years, Pervin Buldan, co-chairwoman of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), tweeted, adding that Ocalan was in "good health".

Jailed HDP MP Leyla Guven launched a hunger strike on 8 November to pressure the Turkish government into allowing lawyers and family members to visit Ocalan.

Ocalan's meeting with his brother was also confirmed to the AFP news agency by Ocalan's nephew and Urfa MP Omer Ocalan, who said his uncle remained in isolation.

"As his family, we demand that Ocalan is subjected to the same rights like other prisoners... He is entitled to meet his family once every week," he said.

Reporter’s code: 50101

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