Öcalan's Lawyers: Turkey has not implemented the European Court of Human Rights ruling for 12 years

According to Kurdistan Press, the Asr Bar Association, which represents Abdullah Öcalan, explained the latest status of the implementation of the so-called "Öcalan No. 2" ruling in an official report to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in this case in 2014 that Öcalan's sentence to aggravated life imprisonment, without the possibility of review and conditional release, violates the European Convention on Human Rights.Ocalan's lawyers stated that the sentence has not been executed despite the passage of 12 years and that Turkey has not established a legal mechanism to review aggravated life sentences after a certain period of time has passed.

Turkey did not act within the set deadline

In its report, the Asr Law Office recalled the provisional decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on September 17, 2025 on the "Gurban Group of Cases", a group that also includes the "Ocalan No. 2" case.

According to the report, the Committee of Ministers stated in that decision that the necessary legal or other measures for the execution of the sentences had not yet been taken and asked Turkey to provide information on the progress made by the end of June 2026.Ocalan’s lawyers said: “Turkey has not made any legislative amendments to establish a mechanism for reviewing aggravated life sentences after a certain period, and has not provided any information or action plan by the deadline set in June 2026.”

The new law also exempts Ocalan

The Asr Bar Association report also referred to the “Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration,” which was approved as part of the ongoing process.

Ocalan’s lawyers stated that the implementation of this law is conditional and has not yet been implemented. According to them, this law not only did not eliminate the definitive exceptions related to conditional release, but also did not provide for the possibility of general, periodic and individual review of aggravated life sentences.The Asr Law Office referred to Article 6 of Law No. 7595, entitled “Postponement of Execution of Sentences,” according to which those sentenced to life imprisonment or aggravated life imprisonment for crimes committed before June 1, 2005, are exempted from the relevant provisions.

The report states: “This provision excludes Abdullah Öcalan from the scope of the law and prevents him from benefiting from it. This exception is the latest link in the same structural problem that led to the violation ruling in the Öcalan case No. 2.”

The request to the Constitutional Court remains unanswered

Öcalan’s lawyers also recalled that they filed an individual application with the Turkish Constitutional Court on December 3, 2021 to remedy the violation identified in the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights.

According to the Asr Law Office, the Turkish Constitutional Court has not yet made a decision on this request after nearly five years.Criticism of the timing of Turkey's action plan

According to the report of Öcalan's lawyers, after the Gurban group of cases was included in the agenda of the 1,577th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on December 1-3, 2026, Turkey presented its action plan on October 5 of the same year.

The Asr Law Office stated that the plan did not contain any information on the implementation of the requirements of the "Öcalan No. 2" ruling or the legal reforms needed to implement it.

The report states: "Turkey should have taken immediate action to implement the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and provided the necessary information by the end of June 2026; but only after the Gurban group was included in the agenda of the December session, did it present a plan that did not contain any new developments.»

Öcalan's lawyers asked the Committee of Ministers to review the timing of the presentation of this program within the framework of the "enhanced monitoring" mechanism and the process of following up on the execution of the sentences.

Request for active and continuous monitoring by the Council of Europe

The Asr Legal Office finally asked the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe:

The Gurban group of cases, including the "Öcalan No. 2" case, should be placed on the agenda of all human rights meetings of the Committee within the framework of the enhanced monitoring mechanism.

The continuation of the human rights violation situation should be officially registered once again.

Turkey should be asked to take the necessary legal measures within the framework of the principles set out in the "Öcalan No. 2" sentence and submit a report on it.

The monitoring process should be brought out of its static state and followed with active and new mechanisms.

Considering that more than 12 years have passed since the sentence was issued, its implementation should be followed up in cooperation with the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe and the Presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of this institution.