The Democratic Democratic Party is expected to hold a direct meeting with Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned for 25 years.
Turkey will allow the pro-Kurdish party in parliament to visit the imprisoned founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in his prison on the island, in the first such visit in nearly a decade.
A spokesman for the Equality and Democracy Party said late Friday that the Justice Ministry had approved a request from the Equality and Democracy Party to meet with Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in solitary confinement.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc confirmed the move in statements to TGRT news channel.
“We responded positively to DEM’s request to hold a meeting. Depending on the weather conditions, they will go to Imrali tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday,” he said, referring to the prison island where Ocalan has been held for 25 years.
Friday’s decision came after the Democratic Democrats requested the visit last month, shortly after a key ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expanded a proposal to end the 40-year-old conflict between the state and Ocalan’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, made this call a month after he suggested that Ocalan announce the end of the rebellion in exchange for the possibility of his release.
Erdogan described Bahçeli’s initial proposal as a “historic window of opportunity.” After the last call last month, Erdogan said that he completely agreed with Bahceli on every issue and that they were acting in harmony and coordination.
“To be frank, the picture before us does not allow us to be very optimistic,” Erdogan said in parliament. “Despite all these difficulties, we are examining what can be done from a long-term perspective that focuses not only on today, but also on the future.”
Bahçeli regularly denounces pro-Kurdish politicians as tools of the PKK, which they deny.
Regional changes
The former party, the DDP, participated in the peace talks between Ankara and Ocalan a decade ago, and the last meeting with him was in April 2015.
The peace process and ceasefire collapsed soon after, unleashing the bloodiest phase of the conflict.
The party said that Democratic Parliament MPs Seri Surya Onder and Pervin Buldan, who met with Ocalan as part of the peace talks at the time, would travel to Imrali Island to meet him this weekend.
Türkiye and its Western allies classify the PKK as a “terrorist group.” More than 40,000 people were killed in the fighting, which in the past was concentrated in the southeast of the country, which is inhabited by a Kurdish majority, but is now concentrated in northern Iraq, where the Kurdistan Workers’ Party is based.
Growing regional instability and changing political dynamics are seen as factors behind the attempt to end the conflict with the PKK. The chances of success are unclear because Ankara has not provided any clues about what this might entail.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria this month, Ankara has repeatedly insisted on the necessity of dissolving the Kurdish People’s Protection Units militia, which it considers an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, stressing that this group has no place in Syria. future.
The People’s Protection Units are the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces allied with the United States.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi (also known as Mazloum Kobani) acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time last week, saying they had helped fight ISIS militants and would return home if a full ceasefire was agreed with Turkey. A basic demand from Ankara.
The authorities in Türkiye continued to suppress alleged PKK activities. Last month, the government replaced five pro-Kurdish mayors in southeastern cities over suspected ties to the PKK, in a move that drew criticism from the KDP and others.
