BDP deputies visit jailed PKK leader on İmralı island

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Selahattin Demirtas (C) co-chairman of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and Pro-Kurdish politicians Sirri Sureyya Onder (R), Pelvin Buldan (L) attend a news conference in Istanbul March 18, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, alongside BDP deputies Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, has visited the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Öcalan today, in the fourth visit to İmralı island prison since “peace talks” began, private broadcaster CNN Türk has reported.

The “İmralı process” or “peace process” refers to the recently launched talks between officials and Öcalan, aimed at convincing PKK militants to lay down their arms and withdraw from Turkish soil.

In the Nevruz celebrations of March 21, Öcalan called on PKK militants to leave Turkish soil.