As a delegation of lawmakers met figures relevant to Türkiye’s “terror-free initiative” to end the terrorist group PKK on Sunday, the Ministry of National Defense announced the elimination of 9 PKK members in Iraq and Syria.
The ministry said in a statement that they would continue remaining “unforeseeable and swift” in counterterrorism operations as it announced three terrorists were eliminated in Iraq’s north and another six in northern Syria in operations. “Terrorists cannot escape the fate awaiting them,” the ministry said.
Around the same time, lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) linked to the terrorist group met Figen Yüksekdağ, former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP), which was the predecessor of DEM. Yüksekdağ was jailed for propaganda in favor of PKK in a prison in the northwestern Turkish province of Kocaeli, just as fellow former co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş was incarcerated in another prison in the province of Edirne. DEM’s visit is part of efforts for a “terror-free initiative” launched by the People’s Alliance to end PKK terrorism. Lawmakers met Demirtaş earlier this week, soon after their landmark visit to PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan. Like Demirtaş, Yüksekdağ voiced support for the initiative, according to Sırrı Süreyya Önder, one of the lawmakers who visited her. The DEM delegation, which briefed political parties about their talks with Öcalan, is expected to visit him again in the coming weeks.
Devlet Bahçeli, chair of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), made a landmark call last year for a temporary release of Öcalan on the condition that he would speak at a parliamentary group meeting of the DEM and urge the PKK to lay down arms. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed support for the initiative, but both Bahçeli and Erdoğan warned that the PKK would be entirely eliminated through military operations if they failed to heed the call.
The terrorist group PKK, which has killed thousands since it launched its first terrorist attacks in the 1980s, claims to fight for Kurdish self-rule and brainwashes the Kurdish population concentrated in southeastern Türkiye to draw recruits. In a message conveyed through the DEM Party after the lawmakers’ visit, Abdullah Öcalan said: "I have the capability and resolve to contribute positively to this new paradigm empowered by Mr. Bahçeli and Mr. Erdoğan. My approach will be shared with the state and political circles. I am ready to take the positive step and make the call. Our efforts will advance the country to the level it deserves and will be a guideline for a democratic transformation. It is a time of peace, democracy and brotherhood for Türkiye and the region.”
