THE family of a Kurdish prisoner who was reported to have burnt himself alive in protest at the continued isolation of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan alleged today that he may have been executed.

Irfan Kilic died in Kanderi F-Type prison on Wednesday and initial reports suggested suicide.

A note said to have been left by Mr Kilic explained that he had self-immolated “in protest at the occupation of the Turkish state [in northern Iraq]” and collusion between Ankara and Masoud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party.

It also suggested that the suicide was a protest against the continued isolation of Mr Ocalan, who has been in prison on Imrali island in the Sea of Marmara since 1999.

Fears were raised of a return to the protests led by Kurdish political prisoners that swept Turkish jails earlier this year. 

Initiated by People’s Democratic Party parliamentarian Leyla Guven in November 2018, hunger strikes were joined by more than 7,000 inmates in protest at the PKK leader’s treatment.

They were called off on May 26 after Mr Ocalan’s lawyers saw him for the second time that month after being blocked from visiting him for almost nine years.

A letter from Mr Ocalan urged the hunger strikers to halt their action, calling on them to pursue other “democratic” means to achieve their aims.

Husamettin Kilic, the brother of the deceased prisoner, alleged that the body showed signs of torture and possible execution.

He said 15 people had been present when they washed his brother’s body as part of the funeral preparations.

“Everyone looked at the body. His head had received repeated blows with a hard object. His skull was completely fractured. He had wounds and fractures inflicted by large objects on his hands and arms. 

“Both his teeth and chin were fractured. There was a hole underneath his right ear. We don’t know whether it was caused by a skewer or bullet. 

“We recorded footage of the body with a mobile phone. You wouldn’t believe it, his body hairs were not even burnt. Only his legs were slightly burnt,” he said.

Mr Kilic believes his brother’s death was not suicide and wants “everything brought to light.”

He said he was waiting for a statement from the prison but accused the authorities of failing to respond to the family’s questions.

A February 2018 United Nations report found widespread evidence of “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” including torture, in Turkish prisons.