DEM Party delegation makes another visit to İmralı

ANKARA

A delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) paid a fresh visit to the İmralı prison island on Dec. 2 for another meeting with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan as part of Türkiye’s latest peace initiative.

MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, joined by lawyer Faik Özgür Erol, traveled to the high-security island off Istanbul for renewed talks with Öcalan. Their visit came two days before a parliamentary commission overseeing the campaign is set to convene on Dec. 4 to assess findings from an earlier cross-party delegation.

Representatives from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the DEM Party visited Öcalan on Nov. 24.

According to commission chair and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş’s office, those discussions yielded “positive results” for social cohesion and regional stability.

Hüseyin Yayman of the AKP, Feti Yıldız of the MHP and Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit of the DEM Party are expected to brief the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission on their talks with Öcalan. The panel aims to finalize its report next month.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the New Path bloc — an alliance that includes the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA Party), Felicity Party (SP) and Future Party — declined to take part in the İmralı visit.

The DEM Party has maintained long-standing channels with Öcalan and initially proposed sending a delegation — a move that quickly drew support from the MHP.

Since its formation, the commission has heard from ministers, unions, business groups, academics, legal experts, civil society organizations and families of fallen soldiers. It was established after Öcalan issued a call for thePKK to lay down arms. A first group of members burned their weapons in July, and the terror group announced its withdrawal from Turkish territory in late October.

Meanwhile, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli reaffirmed the ruling bloc’s determination to advance the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative.

"The die is cast; we crossed the Rubicon. Our determination is unwavering and indisputable,” Bahçeli told daily Türkgün in a report published on Dec. 2.

Describing the initiative as a “historic opportunity,” Bahçeli vowed there would be no “concessions” during the process.

“We are wholeheartedly striving with all our resources for Türkiye to win and for the Turkish nation to breathe a deep sigh of relief,” he said. “Together, we will be much stronger. The shared future of Turks and Kurds will be forged with the memories of their shared past and their moral and spiritual bonds.”