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Terrorist organization PKK ringleader Abdullah Ocalan could not benefit from conditional release provisions before February 2035 even if Türkiye amends its laws to implement European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings on the "right to hope," legal experts said amid ongoing political debate over the terrorist leader's potential release.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Chairman Feti Yildiz announced that the parliamentary commission report would include the right to hope and that consensus had been reached on the matter.
Republican People's Party (CHP) officials subsequently denied any such agreement existed.
According to information obtained by Türkiye daily's Yucel Kayaoglu, the parliamentary commission report prepared within the scope of "Terror-Free Türkiye" will not include direct language granting the right to hope to Ocalan.
However, the report will recommend "implementation of ECHR decisions," thereby bringing the court's previous ruling on Ocalan's right to hope onto the agenda.
The right to hope does not currently exist in Türkiye's legal system.
Under existing law, those convicted of establishing or managing an organization to commit crimes, or crimes committed within an organization's activities, can benefit from conditional release provisions after completing 36 years of an aggravated life sentence.
"However, Ocalan's case falls under crimes against the constitutional order, which is evaluated differently. Article 107, Paragraph 16 of the Criminal Enforcement Law states that conditional release provisions shall not apply in cases of aggravated life imprisonment for crimes against state security, constitutional order and national defense committed within an organization's activities," the report stated.
"This provision must be abolished before any right to hope can be extended to Ocalan," the report added.
Legal experts cited by Türkiye daily noted that even if the criminal enforcement law is amended, the right to hope issue cannot come onto the agenda until 36 years have passed since Ocalan was imprisoned on Feb. 15, 1999.
Therefore, whether Ocalan can benefit from conditional release provisions will only be evaluated starting from Feb. 15, 2035.
If parliament recommends implementation of ECHR decisions, the relevant laws must first be changed, followed by an examination based on conditional release provisions regarding Ocalan.
Ocalan left Türkiye shortly before the Sept. 12, 1980 coup and settled in Syria, from where he directed PKK's armed and political activities until autumn 1998.
Following Turkish government pressure on Damascus to stop harboring the terrorist leader, Ocalan fled to Greece, then Russia, and subsequently Italy. After facing diplomatic pressure from Ankara, each country declined to provide permanent refuge.
Ocalan arrived in Kenya on Feb. 2, 1999, and was taken to the Greek Embassy residence in Nairobi. Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) launched an operation after receiving intelligence that Ocalan intended to travel from Kenya to the Netherlands.
A private aircraft belonging to businessman Cavit Caglar was rented and painted to resemble the plane Greece had arranged for Ocalan.
The aircraft, carrying MIT personnel posing as "banana traders," waited in Uganda for 10 days before the operation concluded with Ocalan's capture and transfer to Türkiye.
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