A delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) visited imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on Feb. 16 on the İmralı prison island, marking another round of talks under Türkiye’s latest peace initiative.
MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, accompanied by lawyer Faik Özgür Erol, traveled to the high-security island off Istanbul for the meeting. The delegation last met Öcalan on Jan. 17.
The latest visit followed a Feb. 11 meeting in Ankara with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Senior officials attending that meeting included Efkan Ala, the vice chair of Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın. The talks lasted about an hour.
In a written statement, the delegation said the meeting confirmed a “shared will to continue the process with determination.”
“It was stated that the TBMM [parliament], relevant ministries and public institutions need to intensify their efforts to take concrete and reassuring steps regarding the ongoing process,” the statement said.
“It was emphasized that it is important for a legal framework that will encompass all segments of society and form the basis of Türkiye's democratic future to emerge without delay and with the broadest possible consensus.”
Momentum behind the initiative gained pace last year after Öcalan issued a call that prompted PKK to begin disarming. A first group of members publicly destroyed their weapons in July, and the terror group later announced plans to withdraw from Turkish territory in October.
A cross-party delegation previously visited Öcalan on Nov. 24, although representatives from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the New Path bloc did not join lawmakers from the AKP, the DEM Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) during that trip.
