Abdülmelik Okyay, a 71-year-old Kurdish politician imprisoned for social media posts, died of a heart attack while incarcerated after his parole was delayed, the Bianet news website reported on Friday.
Okyay was due for parole on September 2, but the administrative observation board, which was supposed to review his case, had not convened.
Administrative observation boards, review bodies established in Turkish prisons in January 2021, have been delaying the parole of prisoners by three to six months, raising concerns over multiple rights violations. Critics allege that these boards frequently delay proceedings by simply not convening on scheduled release dates.
“When we say prisons have become houses of death, this is what we mean. Enough — put an end to the oppression in prisons,” Meral Danış Beştaş, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), wrote on X.
Okyay had a long history of political involvement, serving in various pro-Kurdish parties, including the People’s Labor Party (HEP), Democracy Party (DEP), People’s Democracy Party (HADEP) and most recently in the provincial administration of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The pressure faced by Kurdish politicians in Turkey, including members of pro-Kurdish parties such as HDP, have a long and fraught history. Since the 1990s, successive governments have targeted Kurdish political movements, often accusing them of links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’ (PKK).
An armed separatist group waging war against the Turkish state for decades, the PKK has been designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, including the U.S and the EU members.
In recent years, many Kurdish politicians have been jailed or removed from office, especially after a failed coup attempt in 2016, which led to an intensified crackdown on opposition groups. The space for Kurdish political expression has been severely restricted, with hundreds of party members, including MPs and mayors, imprisoned on charges related to terrorism or social media activities.
