DEM Party set to brief MHP, CHP on peace initiative

ANKARA

This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on July 7, 2025, shows President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (C), MPs of Equality and Democracy (DEM) party Pervin Buldan (2nd L) and Mithat Sancar (L), head of Turkish Intelligence Ibrahim Kalin (R) and Justice and Development (AK) Party Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala (2nd R) posing during their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara.

A Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) delegation that has been in contact with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan as part of a government-backed peace initiative is set to visit the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on July 16 and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on July 17.

The delegation includes lawyers Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, who are expected to deliver briefings and assessments of the "terror-free Türkiye" process during the meetings. Lawyer Faik Özgür Erol will also accompany the two.

According to reports, the meetings aim to discuss recent developments in the process, maintain dialogue between political parties and exchange solution-oriented proposals.

The delegation is scheduled to meet Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu on July 16, followed by a meeting with MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli. CHP leader Özgür Özel will host them the following day.

The visits come after a symbolic weapons-burning ceremony held by a group of PKK members in northern Iraq last week. Thirty members laid down their arms and set them ablaze.

The initiative gained momentum after DEM Party delegations were allowed to visit Öcalan on the İmralı prison island off Istanbul for the first time in years.

Prior to the disarmament ceremony, Buldan and Sancar visited İmralı once more, then met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 7.

The process was made possible after MHP leader Bahçeli publicly urged Öcalan to renounce terrorism in parliament — an appeal later endorsed by Erdoğan.

In May, PKK declared a ceasefire following Öcalan’s calls and subsequently announced its decision to disband and lay down arms. It is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.