DEM Party visits Öcalan amid PKK disarmament

ANKARA

A delegation from the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) traveled to the İmralı prison island off Istanbul to meet with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan following an arms burning ceremony held by members of the terror group.

MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar were accompanied by lawyer Özgür Erol during the visit.

The trip to İmralı followed a tour by the DEM Party to political parties in parliament in the government's ongoing "terror-free Türkiye" initiative. These meetings were designed to allow a mutual exchange of views on the process.

The DEM Party has assumed a mediating role between Öcalan and Ankara, relaying developments to political stakeholders.

As part of the anti-terror bid, PKK declared a ceasefire in line with Öcalan's call and later announced its decision to disarm and dissolve. Earlier this month, 30 PKK members burned their weapons during a symbolic ceremony in northern Iraq.

Meanwhile, Türkiye's intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş embarked on their own tours of political parties. Kalın provided briefings on the process, while Kurtulmuş discussed plans to form a parliamentary commission to oversee the initiative.

The commission is set to be established by the speaker’s decision rather than legislation and will make decisions by a qualified majority.

PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU.