The National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission, established for the terror-free Türkiye process, will meet on Thursday to vote on visiting Imralı island, media reports said.
Accordingly, the commission will gather for its 17th meeting at Parliament to discuss the issues on its agenda and vote whether to visit jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on Imralı island.
If a qualified majority is reached, namely 31 members, the visit will be planned.
Meanwhile, several options are on the table for holding talks on Imralı. The first option involves a five-person delegation, comprised of representatives from the five political parties represented on the commission and in Parliament, traveling to the island. Another option is to connect with Imralı via videoconference.
Last month, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli said that a delegation of commission members should meet face-to-face with Öcalan, receive his messages firsthand and share them with the public. However, no specific comment came from Erdoğan himself.
The terror-free Türkiye initiative was launched last year by government ally MHP when its leader, Bahçeli, implied that the government should facilitate access to Öcalan so that he could call on the PKK to lay down arms. Bahçeli’s proposal was endorsed by Erdoğan, who had earlier hinted at the initiative with messages of unity between Turks and Kurds. The PKK has long justified its campaign of terrorism as a fight for the rights of Kurds. Both Bahçeli and Erdoğan have repeatedly said that ending terrorism and maintaining unity were essential for Türkiye’s "home front” in the face of Israeli aggression in the region, pointing to the fact that Israel may target Türkiye next as part of its expansionist policies. Öcalan responded positively to Bahçeli’s call and urged the PKK to lay down arms. In July, the PKK started the disarmament process with a ceremony in northern Iraq. The group's disarmament is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
As part of the process, the commission was established to follow up on legal steps. Throughout its tenure, the committee heard statements of stakeholders involved or affected by the initiative, from the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), which monitors the PKK's disarmament, to families of terror victims, nongovernmental organizations, youth and more.
Most recently, it announced that it will soon present a framework to Parliament outlining the steps to follow the PKK’s disarmament. Speaking at the 16th meeting, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said the panel had reached an advanced stage in its work and was moving toward drafting its final report. Kurtulmuş emphasized that the commission, which began its work on Aug. 5, had made significant progress through a broad dialogue process.
