Bahçeli says Öcalan talks mark an 'auspicious beginning'

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has described a rare meeting between a Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) delegation and jailed PKK head Abdullah Öcalan as "the momentum of an auspicious beginning."

“It is a futile desire to come between Turks and Kurds, act as a battering ram for sedition and try to undermine a thousand-year-old brotherhood by imposing subversion and separatism,” Bahçeli said in his New Year’s message issued on Dec. 31.

The visit was the party's first in almost a decade. The pro-Kurdish DEM Party's predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), last met Öcalan in April 2015.

The visit on Dec. 28 marked the first such interaction in nearly a decade. The pro-Kurdish DEM Party's predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), last met Öcalan in April 2015.

The meeting "not only relatively strengthened democracy and hopes for Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood but also became the momentum of an auspicious beginning," Bahçeli said.

The visit became possible after 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."

After the delegation returned from the island, a DEM Party statement issued on Dec. 29 said Öcalan is "ready to make a call" to back a new initiative by the Turkish government to end decades of conflict.

Bahçeli urged swift action. "The gradual staging of positive and tangible results should be carried out and announced without delay,” he said.

“Weapons will either be buried, or those who hold weapons. There is no tolerance for any murderer or terrorist organization walking around with weapons in their hands at home or abroad.”

Meanwhile, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel focused on economic challenges in his New Year’s message, pledging to combat inequality and hardship.

“We have lived through a year in which the economy has continued to deteriorate, millions of our citizens, except for a small minority, have been deliberately impoverished, and existing injustices have been compounded by new ones,” he said.

The CHP emerged as the leading party in last March’s local polls and has since pressed for early presidential elections.

“The footsteps of a government that will achieve the goal of full membership in the European Union, build a strong social state and be a hope for the young and old of this country are now being heard,” Özel said.

"We maintain our faith, determination and resolve for a future in which the problems of our citizens will be solved."