Ankara defends detention of PKK's Ocalan

ANKARA, Turkey, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The prison conditions for Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, are in line with detention standards, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

The Turkish foreign minister issued a statement in response to protests by pro-Kurdish groups, saying the conditions at Imrali were appropriate, Turkey's English-language daily Today's Zaman reports.

"The high-security prison newly built on Imrali Island is in compliance with international standards," the statement read.

Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, had demonstrated in southern Turkey in protest of the prison conditions for their leader.

Ocalan is imprisoned at a detention facility on Imrali Island in the south of the Sea of Marmara. He was held in isolation since his 1999 capture, though his arrangements changed as justice officials developed plans to transfer more prisoners to the Imrali facility.

His lawyers contend that the years of isolation have taken their toll on his mental health.

The PKK in a written statement complained his cell was a "death hole" restricted in a way meant to kill the leader.

The conditions for Ocalan sparked protests in southern Turkey as PKK supporters took to the streets chanting pro-Kurdish slogans and vowing "revenge" against national security forces.