A group of Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) lawmakers will travel to Imralı island next week 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.
DEM Party Spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan announced the visit, which comes about a month after Parliament established the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Committee, to supervise the initiative.
Following the committee’s Aug. 28 visit to Öcalan, the party said a larger group would now make the trip to Imralı.
This round of visits is expected to include DEM Party Co-Chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan as well as members of the party’s Central Executive Committee.
The timing of the delegation’s move drew attention, coinciding with a proposal for some Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) committee members to make a similar visit.
The initiative was launched last year by government ally MHP when its leader, Devlet Bahçeli, implied that the government should facilitate access to Öcalan so that he could call the PKK to lay down arms. Although the PKK began laying down arms in July, the complete disarmament is expected to wrap up by the end of 2025.
The initiative will move forward when the terror-free Türkiye committee of Parliament convenes in the coming weeks, following several sessions. The beginning of the new legislative year at Parliament in October may also speed up the process with reports of new regulations on the initiative emerging in the Turkish media.
The DEM Party, linked to the PKK, meanwhile, presses for concessions in the initiative, namely, direct communication between the parliamentary committee it is a part of and Öcalan, who is serving several life sentences in an island prison off Istanbul.
The party and the PKK had earlier sought easing confinement conditions of Öcalan, who was rarely allowed to have visits before the start of the initiative. Since then, Öcalan has had plenty of visitors, including his relatives and a DEM Party delegation conveying his messages.
Tülay Hatimoğulları told a news conference in Ankara on Sunday that Öcalan was the “chief actor” in the initiative and that it was “essential to hold talks with Öcalan.”
Öcalan is among the most hated figures in Türkiye and is blamed for the killings of tens of thousands of people since the 1980s.
A meeting between Öcalan and parliamentarians other than the DEM Party lawmakers who relayed his messages earlier may fuel allegations of a bargain with the PKK.
Bahçeli, who earlier had called for a “right of hope” for Öcalan, that is, the possibility of being eligible for parole in the future, rarely mentioned it again. Yet, the DEM Party insists on it. Hatimoğulları reiterated this demand and said the parliamentary committee should hold an emergency meeting on it.
