A group of Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) lawmakers will travel to Imralı island on Thursday to meet with Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the PKK terrorist group, as part of the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative, party officials confirmed Tuesday.
The delegation, which last visited the island on July 25 for a 3.5-hour meeting with Öcalan, will brief him on the latest work of the Parliamentary National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Committee, which was recently established to supervise the initiative. The group includes the DEM Party's Van deputy Pervin Buldan, Şanlıurfa deputy Mithat Sancar and lawyer Özgür Erol.
Party officials said the visit would take place on Aug. 28, marking the first trip in a month by DEM Party lawmakers to Imralı. Öcalan, who is serving a life sentence for leading the PKK’s bloody campaign that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Türkiye since 1984, is expected to convey new messages on the disarmament process.
“Our delegation hasn’t been able to go to the island for about a month. They will be informed of all developments over the past month and they will return with their assessments,” DEM Party Deputy Group Chair Sezai Temelli said.
The terror-free initiative is a state-led effort to end the PKK’s four-decade terror campaign permanently.
The initiative began in late 2024 after Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli called on Öcalan to urge the group’s disbandment, a move later backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The process reached a turning point on Feb. 27, 2025, when the PKK declared it had ceased operations following Öcalan’s call to lay down arms. In May, the group officially announced its dissolution.
In July, some 30 PKK members, including a senior leader, burned their weapons in a symbolic ceremony in northern Iraq as the first step of disarmament.
The 51-member parliamentary committee, comprising legislators from most major parties, has held five meetings so far, with the sixth and seventh sessions scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
