DEM Party launches talks after meeting with Öcalan

ANKARA

The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has initiated a series of high-level talks in parliament following a rare meeting with Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed PKK leader serving life on a prison island off Istanbul.

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.

DEM Party's delegation, made up of lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan, traveled to the island after the government approved the party's request on Dec. 27.

They were joined by the party’s former mayor, Ahmet Türk, in subsequent parliamentary talks.

The delegation first met with Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş before holding discussions with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli.

Following these meetings, the DEM Party is expected to release a comprehensive statement detailing its discussions with Öcalan and the feedback received from other parties.

The delegation is also set to engage with various social groups, including nongovernmental organizations, unions and professional associations.

After they 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.

Detained 25 years ago by Turkish security forces in Kenya after years on the run, Öcalan was sentenced to death. However, Türkiye abolished capital punishment in 2004 and he is spending his remaining years in an isolation cell on the prison island.

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."

"I have the competence and determination to make a positive contribution to the new paradigm started by Mr. Bahçeli and Mr. Erdoğan," the statement quoted Öcalan as saying.

Meanwhile, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel expressed cautious support for the initiative.

“I say ‘yes’ to a new process that will be carried out sincerely and transparently. I have only one condition: The Turkish parliament and no party should be excluded," he said in an interview with daily Sabah published on Jan. 2.

"Whatever I do, I will do it by looking into the eyes of the families of martyrs and veterans."