DEM Party meets Ocalan ahead of Erdogan talks, PKK disarmament

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A delegation from the Turkey-based pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) met with Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), on Sunday, just a day before its scheduled talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The meeting also comes shortly before a group of PKK fighters is expected to formally disarm in the Kurdistan Region’s eastern Sulaimani province.

In a brief statement, the DEM Party said that its lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, along with Ocalan’s lawyer Ozgur Faik Erol, visited the jailed PKK leader. A detailed statement about the meeting will be released soon, the party added.

This engagement is part of a broader, months-long initiative led by the DEM Party aimed at resolving the four-decade-long conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state that has claimed more than 40,000 lives - mostly PKK fighters. While some have labeled the ongoing efforts as a peace process, Ankara has framed them as part of its “free-terror Turkey” campaign.

In May, the PKK announced it would dissolve and end its armed struggle in response to a February call by Ocalan, who urged the group to abandon armed resistance and pursue a political path to secure Kurdish rights.

Ankara has cautiously welcomed the PKK’s move but insists on seeing concrete steps before considering the disarmament process complete. The PKK, in turn, expects democratic reforms from the Turkish government in exchange for ending its insurgency.

The DEM Party also confirmed on Sunday it will meet with President Erdogan on Monday at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. This follows a landmark meeting between Erdogan and the party held on April 10 - marking the first such engagement between the Turkish president and a pro-Kurdish party in a decade. That meeting included Buldan and the late Sirri Sureyya Onder, a senior DEM figure. Erdogan noted at the time that the party had requested a follow-up meeting, which was under consideration.

The latest meetings come as Rudaw learned last week that the first batch of PKK fighters - ranging between 20 to 30 - is set to disarm at a ceremony in the Raparin administration of Sulaimani province in early July. Well-informed sources familiar with the matter indicated that the location was chosen due to “security considerations.”

A DEM Party delegation is expected to attend the disarmament ceremony.

Founded in 1978, the PKK initially aimed to establish an independent Kurdish state. In recent decades, however, the group has shifted its focus toward securing political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. Ankara, along with the United States and the European Union, designates the PKK as a terrorist organization.