Prison authorities in southeastern Turkey delayed the conditional release of Besra Erol, a 66-year-old Kurdish inmate, by a year over allegations of a “lack of remorse,” the Artı Gerçek news website reported.
Her release was postponed following a review by the prison’s administrative observation board. The committee cited Erol’s “unsatisfactory” responses to questions such as “Are you remorseful?” and “Why do socialize with political prisoners?” as justification for delaying her release.
Administrative observation boards, review bodies established in Turkish prisons in January 2021, have frequently been delaying the parole of prisoners by three to six months, raising concerns over multiple rights violations. The boards have repeatedly delayed the release of inmates, citing “a lack of good behavior.”
Erol, who has been suffering from multiple health issues, including herniated discs, high blood pressure and recurring eye problems requiring surgery, was set to be released on December 9 after completing three-quarters of her seven-and-a-half-year sentence at Elazığ Women’s Closed Prison.
Erol was convicted in 2019 of “membership in a terrorist organization,” a charge stemming from remarks made during the 2015 funeral of her son, Evrim Deniz Erol, who was killed in a suicide bombing carried out by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) at the Amara Cultural Center in Suruç.
While specific affiliations were not detailed, such charges often pertain to an alleged connection with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
“I told him not to go, but he went. Sadly, they did not let him live. All these children are our children. While young people are dying, how can you live so comfortably? How does your conscience allow this? You call yourselves Muslims, but… those with a conscience are the real Muslims. Whether they are Kurdish, Turkish, Alevi, Circassian or Zaza, for us, they are all the same. I swear, they fear the mothers, they fear our funerals,” Erol said, calling on the Turkish government and insinuating some accountability in the bombing.
The Suruç attack, carried out on July 20, 2015, targeted a gathering of young activists preparing to deliver humanitarian aid to the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani. The suicide bombing killed 33 people and injured more than 100, marking one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey attributed to ISIL.
