DEM Party wraps up talks on rare Öcalan visit

DEM Party wraps up talks on rare Öcalan visit

ANKARA
DEM Party wraps up talks on rare Öcalan visit

DEM Party Istanbul MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Van MP Pervin Buldan and DEM Party member Ahmet Türk visited former HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ in Kocaeli prison.

A delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has concluded a series of briefings following a rare meeting with Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed PKK leader serving life on a prison island off Istanbul.

The meeting with Öcalan on Dec. 28, 2024, was the first since the pro-Kurdish DEM Party's predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), met with him in April 2015.

The delegation, consisting of MPs Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan, was joined by the party’s former mayor, Ahmet Türk, in talks with all major parties in parliament following the visit, with the exception of the İYİ (Good) Party.

During the meeting on İmralı, Öcalan reportedly called on the delegation to visit imprisoned Kurdish politicians to allow them to contribute to reconciliation efforts.

The group later visited former HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ in separate prisons on Jan. 11 and 12.

After meeting with Demirtaş in Edirne, Türk described the party’s initiative as an effort to foster the "reembracement of peoples who have lived together for thousands of years."

"By establishing peace, we want Türkiye to become a country that can export democracy in the Middle East. Our goal is the friendship of our peoples," Türk said.

In Kocaeli, Önder conveyed Yüksekdağ’s "readiness" to contribute to peace-building efforts.

"All the martyrs who lost their lives in this conflict and veterans are the honor of our entire country. The greatest gift we can give will be to end this conflict and crown it with peace,” Önder said.

The İmralı visit became possible after Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahçeli invited Öcalan to come to parliament to renounce terror and disband PKK. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his ally, backed the appeal as a "historic window of opportunity."

PKK is listed as a terror organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.

After the delegation returned from the island, 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.

Party sources have said a roadmap is expected to emerge from subsequent discussions with Öcalan, with a second visit planned for this week.

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 İmralı.