ERBIL - Turkish authorities have decided to lift the visit ban on the jailed leader of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, allowing his lawyers and family members for the first time since 2011 to meet him regularly.

The lawyers said earlier the month that they requested hundreds of times to meet Ocalan but that they were repeatedly rejected by the Turkish authorities.

They, however, were finally allowed to visit him on 2nd May on Turkey’s Imrali Island, where the Ocalan has been held since 1999, as reported by Mezopotamya news agency.

Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul said on Thursday that Ocalan's family members as well as lawyers can now visit him regularly, noting that it is a "legal right" for them.

He, in the meantime, explained that there is an amendment in the law related to visits to prisoners, and that based on the policy, there will be restrictions again in certain security conditions.

The PKK is designated as a "terrorist organization" by Ankara as the two sides are in a decades-long military confrontation over the Kurdish question in the country.

Bas News