The pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) will demand the release of the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan, a newly-elected deputy from the party reportedly said on Thursday. Semra Güzel, the HDP's newly-elected southeastern Diyarbakır deputy, said that the party will struggle for peace and freedom, and this is only possible with Öcalan's release. "People's demand is not just an end to the isolation of Öcalan, but also his release. We will carry this request to Parliament," she said.
The founder and leader of PKK terrorist organization was jailed in 1999 for forming an armed organization after a death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He is being held on İmralı Island in the Sea of Marmara.
The Turkish government has long accused the HDP of having close links with the PKK, a group banned by the European Union and the U.S. In November 2016, 13 HDP lawmakers were arrested, and 10 of them, including HDP Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, remain under arrest awaiting trial on charges related to being members or leaders of and committing crimes for the PKK terrorist group.