President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a meeting on Thursday with a delegation of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), also known as the Imralı delegation, at the Presidential Complex in Ankara.
Pervin Buldan, a DEM Party lawmaker from Van, and Şanlıurfa lawmaker Mithat Sancar attended the meeting.
Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Buldan said this would mark their third meeting with the president, describing it as "important and meaningful" given the current political climate.
"We are all aware that we are going through a historic period. We will discuss the progress of the process, existing challenges and steps that need to be taken," she said, adding that senior officials Efkan Ala and the head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Ibrahim Kalın were also expected to join the talks.
Sancar called the meeting “crucial,” saying the main agenda would include the course of the ongoing process and future actions. "We will share our ideas and suggestions with the president and listen to his evaluations. We believe the meeting will be productive and lead to positive outcomes," he said.
The DEM Party released a statement following the meeting.
According to the statement shared on the party’s social media account, the DEM Party’s Imralı delegation met with Erdoğan for about an hour. The delegation reportedly presented its views and proposals regarding the current stage of the peace and democratic society process and future steps to be taken.
The Imralı delegation is a delegation made up of DEM Party lawmakers who have been pursuing dialogue with the PKK’s jailed ringleader, Abdullah Öcalan, on Imralı Island.
Earlier this 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 meeting is also critical in that it comes shortly after the PKK declared its withdrawal from Türkiye.
The PKK terrorist group announced on Sunday that it started withdrawing from Türkiye as part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative, months after it began abandoning arms in northern Iraq.
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.
Meanwhile, the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission, established for the terror-free Türkiye process met on the same day for their 16th meeting.
The first session was held by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, while the second session was attended by Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç, who provided information and answered questions from members of Parliament.
In his opening remarks, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said that the commission's work, which has been underway since Aug. 5, has progressed successfully, and that information, ideas, and suggestions have been received from a total of 130 institutions, representatives of civil society organizations, academics, and opinion leaders.
"Our speaker said that the terrorist organization's statement on Oct. 26 was a significant step in advancing the process. He emphasized that once Türkiye's security forces have identified and documented the elimination of the terrorist organization's presence on the ground, the commission will present a framework outlining the steps to be taken to the General Assembly. He stated that a Türkiye model “will be presented to the world when the terror-free Türkiye process reaches its goal, and that this model will shed light on conflict resolution in many countries."
Meanwhile, it was announced that the date and agenda of the commission's 17th meeting will be announced later.
