Ocalan calls for 'transitional process' in Turkey to recognize 'Kurdish reality'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan has called for the establishment of a transitional process in Turkey to recognize "Kurdish reality" in the country "in all its dimensions."

Ocalan made the call during a meeting on Monday with main mediators in talks between Ankara and the PKK - Pervin Buldan, and Mithat Sancar. The mediators, also called Imrali Delegation, are members of the pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). His lawyer Faik Ozgur Erol also attended the meeting.

"The Kurdish reality should be included in the legality of the Republic in all its dimensions, and a strong transition process should be established for this purpose. Transitioning to legality as a holistic phenomenon will strengthen the legal foundations of the Democratic Republic," the DEM Party quoted Ocalan as stating during the Monday talks which lasted three hours.

The Imrali Delegation of the DEM Party added Ocalan told them that "We must act not by drawing lines, but by creating a vision that also encompasses our current problems."

"To advance the current process, it is necessary to take history and sociology more seriously. It is important to recognize that the Turkish-Kurdish relationship has endured for a thousand years as two foundational pillars. Strengthening unity requires that these pillars be seen, understood, and restored," Ocalan has said.

The DEM Party delegation's visit to Ocalan at his prison cell on the Imrali island came just four days after their third meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss “necessary steps to be taken from this point onward,” the party said.

In May, the PKK officially declared its dissolution and an end to its armed campaign, following Ocalan’s appeal for a political solution to four decades of a conflict that has claimed nearly 40,000 lives.

Last week, the PKK said it had begun withdrawing all fighters from Turkey. In announcing the withdrawal, the PKK, under the name “Kurdistan Freedom Movement,” said it expects Ankara to implement a “PKK-specific Transitional Law” that would allow the group to enter politics.

A Turkish parliamentary commission is drafting the legal framework for the peace process.