As Türkiye still waits for the next stage of the terror-free Türkiye initiative for the disarmament of the PKK terrorist group, two key actors of the process met on Thursday.
Government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, who informally launched the initiative two years ago, met a delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which has intricate links to the terrorist group.
DEM Party lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar and lawyer Faik Özgür Erol visited Bahçeli at his office in the Turkish Parliament. The trio is also part of a delegation that regularly visits the PKK’s jailed ringleader, Abdullah Öcalan, on the island prison near Istanbul where he is incarcerated. The initiative moved forward with the DEM Party relaying Öcalan’s message to the PKK in which he called for the dissolution of the terrorist group.
Neither Bahçeli nor the DEM Party delegation, who met before as part of the initiative, commented on their meeting, which lasted for about 40 minutes. The delegation has held talks with ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) officials on Wednesday.
Media outlets reported that the talks focused on a “framework law,” which is expected to follow the confirmation of the PKK’s full disarmament. The law will cover a reduction in prison terms for a limited group of PKK members and regulations to facilitate the process. Öcalan and other PKK figures already sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment will be exempt from any leniency, according to the media reports.
