A delegation of lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) issued an optimistic statement on the progress of the terror-free initiative on Friday. The delegation was tasked with holding talks with the jailed leader of the PKK terrorist group’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, after a government ally called for the dissolution of the PKK.
Lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan from the party long associated with the terrorist group visited Öcalan last month, essentially paving the way for the initiative informally initiated by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli.
The terror-free initiative’s first step involves a call by Öcalan to his group to lay down arms.
Buldan and Önder visited representatives of political parties at Parliament following their talks with Öcalan. They also met jailed figures of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the spiritual predecessor of the DEM Party and briefed them about the process.
“All meetings went positively on a sincere and promising level,” the DEM Party said in its statement, noting that all political parties and their leaders have backed the initiative by principle.
With that however, the parties have had various concerns and suggestions, according to the statement, concentrating on the transparency of the process and basing it at Parliament.
The cautious process was initiated in October by Devlet Bahçeli, a leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), who has usually opposed any concessions to the PKK.
The PKK has waged a terror campaign against Türkiye since 1984, initially with the aim of establishing a so-called Kurdish state in the southeast of the country.
The conflict between the terrorists and state forces, which has spread beyond Türkiye’s borders into Iraq and Syria, has killed tens of thousands of people. The PKK is proscribed to be a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Öcalan was captured in Kenya in 1999 and imprisoned on Imralı island in the Marmara, where he remains to this day. In a message relayed by his nephew in December, the PKK leader said he has the power to end the group’s campaign if the conditions are right.
In October, in a major shift for the hardline politician, Bahçeli, a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, suggested Öcalan could be granted parole if he renounced violence and disbanded the PKK.
Erdoğan appears to have endorsed Bahçeli’s stance.
There has been a mixed reaction among politicians and analysts to suggestions of the new initiative. Some described it as a historic opportunity, while others strongly opposed any perceived notion of leniency toward Öcalan or the PKK.
However, the DEM Party said its delegation has observed that all parties “share a common desire and willpower to overcome the conflicting and tense process deriving from the Kurdish problem.”
Similarly, the DEM Party said a parallel issue is that the peace process “should be instrumental in general democratization and the expansion of the field of democratic politics.”
“We are sure that everyone, every segment of society, has expectations and hopes regarding this process, as well as concerns, sensitivities and questions,” the party said.
A DEM Party delegation is due to pay Öcalan another visit to Imralı, the party said without specifying a date.
There have been several efforts to end the PKK’s campaign over the years, including secret negotiations between the Turkish state and the PKK held in Oslo, Norway from 2009 until 2011. However, none have yielded results.
The last attempt to reach a peace deal took place between 2013 and 2015 with a series of talks between Turkish officials and Öcalan, who declared a cease-fire and withdrew PKK members to bases in northern Iraq.
Turkish officials took steps to improve Kurdish rights, including allowing Kurdish-language broadcasts. The process collapsed in July 2015, after a series of violent attacks by the PKK.
“Reinforcing Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood is a historic responsibility and is a matter of importance and emergency for all peoples,” Öcalan said in his statements quoted by the DEM Party.
Öcalan said it was essential for all political circles in Türkiye to take the initiative without being confined to “narrow calculations,” “act constructive” and “provide a positive contribution” for this new process to succeed. Öcalan said the Parliament he was urged to come to would be “undoubtedly one of the most important grounds for ‘this contribution.'”
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