Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan, who formed a delegation as part of the ambitious terror-free Türkiye initiative, are set to meet Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani this weekend in Irbil, their Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) announced Monday.
Buldan and Önder will meet with Barzani, the head of the semiautonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) based in northern Iraq, as well as KRG President Nechirvan Barzani, on Feb. 16, the DEM Party said in a statement.
On Feb. 17, Monday, the DEM Party delegation will move to the city of Sulaymaniya where they will meet Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani, Qubad Talabani and other PUK officials, according to the statement.
The meetings will tackle DEM Party lawmakers’ visits to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan at the prison on Imralı Island and the terror-free initiative, the DEM Party said.
Önder and Buldan have held two meetings with Öcalan at Imralı since Turkish government ally Devlet Bahçeli informally launched the “terror-free initiative” last year.
Bahçeli, staunchly opposed to any concessions to the PKK, suggested Öcalan could be granted parole if he renounced violence and disbanded the PKK. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also endorsed the initiative, calling it a “historic window of opportunity.”
Öcalan’s call to his group to lay down arms is expected to come this month, marking the anniversary of his capture. DEM Party lawmakers will hold their last meeting with Öcalan later this month and it will likely be the final meeting for Öcalan, who was not allowed visits frequently before the start of the terror-free Türkiye initiative.
The chief terrorist had expressed his willingness to reach out to his group and urge them to abandon arms, according to previous messages he conveyed through DEM Party lawmakers.
Authorities, the DEM Party and Öcalan are working to iron out details on the historic call, according to a report in the Turkish newspaper Sabah.
The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 in a terror campaign that has killed more than 40,000 people.
The group also occupies Sinjar, Makhmour and has a foothold in Sulaymaniyah, all of which Ankara strongly opposes. Türkiye has warned the collaboration between the PUK and the PKK in the city risks spillover of the terrorist group's violent campaigns to the wider region.
The PUK stands accused of giving more freedom of movement both in the city and rural parts of Sulaymaniyah to the PKK. The PKK, not recognized as a terrorist group in Iraq, seeks to legitimize its presence through political parties and nongovernmental organizations in Türkiye's southern neighbor. In rural Sulaymaniyah, it intimidates the local population by setting up "checkpoints" and through extortions and kidnappings.
Further east of Sulaymaniyah, the PKK is also involved in drug smuggling and the smuggling of goods on the Iran-Iraq border. In central Sulaymaniyah, the terrorist group is affiliated with several organizations, from Tevgera Azadi, a political association, to the Kurdish Women's Research Library and Academy.
The PUK's assistance to the PKK also helps the latter build a strategic "bridge" with the YPG, the terrorist group's Syrian wing. The PUK is also behind military training for YPG members who cross into Iraq from northern Syria. The scope of the PUK and PKK cooperation further became evident with a 2023 helicopter crash.
Ankara maintains dozens of bases in northern Iraq and regularly launches operations against the PKK, which uses a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains near Irbil.
The PKK claims to fight for Kurdish self-rule and brainwashes the Kurdish population concentrated in southeastern Türkiye to draw recruits. Turkish officials are opposed to the conflation of the Kurdish community and the PKK, arguing the definition implies Kurds are a problem for Türkiye and abets the PKK’s terrorist agenda.
