DEM Party to apply to meet Erdoğan after his greenlight

ANKARA

The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) is poised to formally request an appointment with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the party’s co-chair after the president gave a greenlight to a possible direct engagement.

Erdoğan responded positively to a journalist's question when asked if he would meet with the DEM Party delegation following a parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on March 12.

“My friends will meet with them. If a request for an appointment is made, I will give it,” Erdoğan said.

The DEM Party commenced its outreach to other political parties on March 11 as part of a broader initiative linked to a call from PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan urging the terror organization to disarm.

The party’s anticipated meeting with the AKP is scheduled for March 17.

Hours after Erdoğan’s statement, DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan announced that a formal request for an appointment with the president will be submitted imminently, possibly within the day or the following.

Commenting on the development, DEM Party’s Ahmet Türk characterized Erdoğan’s stance as both significant and constructive.

“Naturally, the president is the head of this country. We wish to engage with him and convey our perspectives regarding a resolution to this issue,” Türk remarked.

Notably, Türk was part of a DEM Party delegation that visited İmralı Island to hold talks with Öcalan.

The DEM Party on March 12 continued its political consultations, engaging in dialogues with the Felicity Party, the Future Party and the Workers’ Party of Türkiye.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) rebuffed the potential for a meeting with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) as part of an initiative to end terror in Türkiye, citing a TV interview by a CHP figure on March 11.

MHP said that it would not engage with the CHP unless it unequivocally demonstrated a resolute position against terrorism, accusing it of having an ambiguous stance on efforts to eradicate terror from Türkiye.