Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli said on Nov. 18 that he is prepared to visit jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan himself if the parliamentary commission guiding Türkiye's latest peace initiative fails to take the step.
"If the goal of a terror-free Türkiye is to be achieved with honest and sincere measures, there is no point in resisting a visit to İmralı [prison island]," Bahçeli told MHP lawmakers at a weekly parliamentary meeting.
The government’s ongoing anti-terrorism initiative has been consumed in recent weeks by debate over whether the National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission should make the visit. The panel has yet to reach a decision after repeated delays.
"The days-long debate over whether to go to İmralı should be put to a period ... If direct contact cannot be established with one of the main parties to the process, how will results be achieved, and how will progress be made?" he asked.
"If no one is willing to make this visit, if everyone insists on playing ostrich, I am saying it openly: I would take three friends with me and not hesitate to go to İmralı with our own means. I will not shy away from sitting face to face [with Öcalan] at a table."
Hours after his remarks, the commission will convene its 17th session following two postponements. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, and intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın are set to brief lawmakers.
The meeting had first been pushed back from Nov. 6 to Nov. 13 due to "technical reasons" after consultations between Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and party representatives and was delayed again after a Turkish military cargo plane crashed in Georgia on Nov. 11, killing all 20 soldiers aboard.
Introduced by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), the visit proposal comes as the PKK has declared a ceasefire, disbanded its forces, and announced its withdrawal to northern Iraq under the plan.
In a parliamentary speech later on Nov. 18, DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan called Bahçeli’s comments “commendable.” He urged parliament to adopt a “transition period law,” lift all trustee appointments to local administrations, and reinstate public workers dismissed by decree laws to bolster the process.
The DEM Party has played a pivotal role in sustaining indirect channels between Ankara and Öcalan, with delegations visiting İmralı regularly, most recently on Nov. 3. Senior MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar also met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 30, a meeting Erdoğan described as "promising and constructive."
Earlier, Kurtulmuş said the 51-member panel could authorize an Öcalan visit with a "qualified majority" of 31 votes. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds 22 seats, while the DEM Party and MHP together control nine—a bloc that could reach the threshold if unified. The stance of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), with 11 seats, remains uncertain.
Since its formation, the commission has heard from cabinet ministers, labor unions, business groups, academics, legal experts, families of fallen soldiers, and civil society organizations. Kurtulmuş said its findings will be compiled into a report to be presented to the general assembly later this month.
