DEM Party: Öcalan visit, subsequent talks 'promising'

DEM Party: Öcalan visit, subsequent talks 'promising'

ANKARA
DEM Party: Öcalan visit, subsequent talks promising

A delegation from the (Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) described their rare visit to imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and subsequent talks as “sincere and promising,” signaling a potential revival of peace efforts.

The talks held with the PKK leader serving life on the İmralı prison island off Istanbul on Dec. 28, 2024, were the first since the pro-Kurdish DEM Party’s predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), met with him in April 2015.

Delegation members, lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan, along with former mayor Ahmet Türk, have since engaged in talks with political parties in parliament.

The trio later visited former HDP officials Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, Selçuk Mızraklı and Leyla Güven in prisons on Jan. 11 and 12.

"Almost all the talks have been sincere and promisingly positive. The honorable leaders and their delegations have expressed their support for the peace process in principle," read a statement released by the DEM Party on Jan. 17.

"However, there have also been concerns and suggestions on various issues. These are mainly focused on the transparency of the process and its implementation within the parliament."

The party underscored a shared desire among political parties to "resolve tensions and tense process stemming from the Kurdish issue."

“It is a common opinion that overcoming this and developing the unity and brotherhood of all ethnic, religious and sectarian elements in our country is in everyone’s best interest,” the statement said.

"With all our positive impressions, we will pay a visit to Mr. Öcalan as soon as possible and spare no effort to ensure that the process reaches peace through healthy methods."

The visit to Öcalan’s prison became possible after the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli invited Öcalan to come to the parliament to renounce terror and disband PKK.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his ally, backed the appeal as a "historic window of opportunity."

After the delegation returned from İmralı, a DEM Party statement said Öcalan was "ready to make a call" to back a new initiative by the Turkish government to end decades of conflict.

Detained 25 years ago by Turkish security forces in Kenya after years on the run, the PKK leader was sentenced to death. However, Türkiye abolished capital punishment in 2004, and he is spending his remaining years in an isolation cell on the İmralı island.