Erdoğan hails DEM Party meeting as 'promising'

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has praised his recent meeting with a Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) delegation as “promising” and “constructive,” signaling renewed momentum in the government’s “terror-free Türkiye" initiative.

“Hopefully, we will see the impact of this meeting in the coming days,” Erdoğan said during an event in Istanbul on Nov. 1.

The meeting, held on Oct. 30, brought together Erdoğan and DEM Party MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, who had earlier met jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on the İmralı prison island off Istanbul as part of the peace initiative. Intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın also attended the hour-long discussion.

“We had a very constructive, productive and promising meeting with them,” Erdoğan said.

A statement from the DEM Party described the encounter as marked by “mutual understanding and consensus on taking steps to ensure a faster and healthier progress of the process.”

The meeting followed a series of prison visits by the DEM Party delegation to leading Kurdish political figures, including former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, as well as former Diyarbakır Mayor Selçuk Mızraklı and ex-MP Semra Güzel.

Demirtaş conveyed through the delegation that he was “ready to contribute” to the process.

Speaking before the meeting, Buldan called the encounter “very important and meaningful,” citing the significance of holding talks “at such a historic time.”

The Oct. 30 meeting marked the third between Erdoğan and the İmralı delegation this year, following earlier discussions on April 10 and July 7. The April meeting was the first direct contact between the sides in 13 years.

The ongoing anti-terror initiative, launched in October 2024, has already led to key developments. PKK declared a ceasefire, announced plans to disband and disarm and withdrew its remaining forces from Türkiye to northern Iraq.

Meanwhile, the parliament's National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission continues to oversee the process. The body held its 16th meeting on Oct. 30, with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç briefing lawmakers.

Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said prosecutors would “do their part” once it is confirmed that PKK has fully liquidated its assets.

The symbolic start of the current process dates back to last year, when Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli called for Öcalan to address parliament — a move that officials now cite as the opening step toward what they describe as a “terror-free Türkiye.”