Bahçeli urges PKK leader to make call to disarm
ANKARA
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has called on PKK to make an "anticipated declaration to disarm as soon as possible" amid rare political dialogue involving its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan.
"The Turkish nation has opened a door to the terrorist organization and all terrorists who have done and are waiting in ambush to do all kinds of evil to our country," Bahçeli told MHP lawmakers on Jan. 28.
His remarks came amid recent meetings between Öcalan and a delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
The group consisting of lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan visited Öcalan on Jan. 22 for the second time in less than a month.
"Come... and declare that this struggle will never achieve its goals. Express regret for the pain you inflicted on thousands of our people," Bahçeli said.
"Stop being regional actors in the service of global powers. Accept the destiny our dear nation will decree."
The initial talks with the PKK leader, serving a life sentence on the İmralı prison island off Istanbul, were the first since members of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party’s predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), met with him in April 2015.
It became possible after Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli invited Öcalan to come to the 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 İmralı, 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.
“The anticipated call should be made as soon as possible,” Bahçeli said.
About an hour later, DEM Party co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları shared details from the delegation’s second meeting with Öcalan, quoting him as saying fostering democracy in Türkiye was the “only solution to prevent ongoing crises."
“Bahçeli’s approach could pave the way for a historic breakthrough toward peace if it aligns with the state’s broader strategy,” Öcalan reportedly said.
PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.