A parliamentary commission steering Türkiye’s latest peace initiative will decide on Nov. 21 whether to authorize an unprecedented meeting with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, potentially reshaping the next stage of the country’s "terror-free Türkiye" project.
The proposal, tabled by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), quickly won support from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) held parallel meetings on Nov. 20 to determine their positions ahead of the vote.
Approval requires a qualified majority of 31 out of the commission’s 51 members. The AKP controls 22 seats, while the DEM Party and MHP together hold nine — a bloc that could reach the threshold. The CHP has 11 seats. The İYİ (Good) Party, the only major party in parliament to oppose the initiative outright, declined to send members to the panel.
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli signaled strong backing for the visit, saying he would personally go to the İmralı prison island if the commission failed to approve it.
"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," Bahçeli said Nov. 18. "If no one is willing to make this visit… I would take three friends with me and not hesitate to go to İmralı by our own means. I will not shy away from sitting face to face [with Abdullah Öcalan] at a table."
MHP deputy leader Feti Yıldız added that the panel should travel to the island “as soon as possible” to hear Öcalan’s views directly.
Under the draft plan, a five-member delegation including representatives from the AKP, CHP, MHP, DEM Party and New Path Party would make the visit.
The commission held its 17th meeting on Nov. 18, where Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın briefed lawmakers on recent developments. Kalın later took questions in a second session, and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş held a closed-door meeting with the panel.
Following the talks, the commission said it would “evaluate the work it has carried out to date and discuss its future work, including the issue of visiting the İmralı High Security Prison.”
The DEM Party has long maintained indirect channels between Ankara and Öcalan, with its lawmakers regularly visiting the island during previous dialogue periods. Senior MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar also met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 30, a meeting Erdoğan described as “promising and constructive.”
While the commission is not tasked with drafting laws, it is expected to outline proposals for legal changes aimed at reintegrating PKK members, including potential revisions to anti-terror and sentencing legislation. Since its formation, it has gathered input from ministers, unions, business groups, academics, legal experts, families of fallen soldiers and civil society representatives.
Kurtulmuş has said the panel’s findings will be compiled into a report to be presented to the general assembly later this month.
