Turkiye’s government has allowed two pro-Kurdish MPs to visit imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, as part of apparent efforts towards a ceasefire with the designated terror group.
Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan, two MPs from Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, today made a trip to Imralı island, where PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan has been imprisoned off the Turkish coast since 1999.
In a statement released by the DEM Party today, following the meeting, it refrained from providing details of the talks with Ocalan or of any other matters surrounding it, but simply stated that the “delegation will share the information and evaluations about the content of this meeting with the press and the public in the coming hours”.
The politicians and their delegation were granted permission by the Turkish government to meet Ocalan – a rare occurrence over the past decade – after putting in an official request back in November.
It comes after notable efforts in recent months to initiate talks between Ankara and the PKK for a potential ceasefire and peace deal, which could effectively calm growing tensions both within Turkiye and in northern Syria, where Kurdish militias affiliated with the PKK maintain a presence and continue to carry out attacks against civilians and Turkish-backed fighters.
Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the government coalition partner the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), told his party’s lawmakers last month that he expected such talks “to be made without delay”, after previously suggesting that Ocalan could possibly secure his release if he announces an end to the PKK’s decades-long fight against the Turkish state and its acts of terrorism across the country and region.
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