BDP co-chair, lawmaker on İmralı to meet jailed PKK leader

ISTANBUL

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş. DHA Photo

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş and BDP lawmaker Pervin Buldan went to İmralı island to meet Abdullah Öcalan on June 7 in the first visit to the jailed leader after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) started its pullout from the Turkish soil.

Demirtaş and Buldan reportedly informed Öcalan on the PKK militants’ withdrawal from Turkish soil to northern Iraq and received a road map from Öcalan, who is serving a life sentence, regarding the second phase of the peace process.

The delegation is the sixth visit by BDP members to İmralı; while the first five delegations featured three members, this is the first envoy that only includes two figures.

The PKK announced last month that it would withdraw its militants in Turkey to northern Iraq upon orders from Öcalan. The PKK leader’s messages were conveyed to PKK executives with letters carried out by BDP lawmakers, who visited the island with the government’s permission.