EU Parliament hails Türkiye’s prospects in Kurdish issue

ANKARA

The European Parliament has described the involvement of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli and jailed PKK head Abdullah Öcalan in a peace process as a "historic opportunity."

In its annual report on Türkiye, the European Parliament praised Bahçeli’s “constructive approach” and Öcalan’s call for PKK to disarm and dissolve and welcomed both steps, daily Hürriyet said on May 6.

The development "has the potential to end the 40-year period of violence," the report said, urging the launch of an inclusive and parliamentary-led initiative to resolve the Kurdish issue.

Renewed contact with Öcalan became possible after Bahçeli invited him to renounce terrorism in parliament, an appeal later endorsed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a “historic window of opportunity.”

His call was followed by a fourth consecutive meeting since December between the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and Öcalan on the İmralı prison island off Istanbul.

Following the third visit, DEM Party officials on Feb. 27 relayed Öcalan’s message calling on PKK to dissolve.

On April 10, DEM Party lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan met Erdoğan at the presidential complex in Ankara — the first direct contact between the Turkish leader and pro-Kurdish party representatives in nearly 12 years.

The process seems stalled for now as Önder suffered cardiac arrest and died over the weekend after spending 18 days in intensive care. The hospital said he succumbed to multiple organ failure.

PKK is listed as a terror group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union. Öcalan, meanwhile, has been held in solitary confinement since his capture in 1999.

Meanwhile, the report also criticized the arrest and removal of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and several other top municipal officials, local media said.

On the issue of visa liberalization, the European Parliament said Türkiye has yet to fulfill key criteria. However, it expressed support for advancing the process should the conditions be met and called on EU member states to bolster their human resources and technical infrastructure to improve visa procedures.

It backed measures aimed at facilitating visas, especially for business travel and academic exchanges.

Media reports quoted the draft as saying negotiations for Türkiye's EU bid could not resume under current circumstances. Still, it urged continued efforts toward establishing a “closer, dynamic and strategic partnership” between the bloc and Türkiye.