Turkey’s parliamentary delegation to visit jailed PKK leader

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A delegation representing the Turkish parliament is set to visit jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan on Monday as part of efforts to establish a legal framework for ongoing peace talks between his Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the state, a source told Rudaw. Some media outlets have reported that the delegation has already arrived at the prison.

Abdurrahim Akdag, a former lawmaker for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), confirmed to Rudaw that the delegation had arrived in Istanbul province, where the Imrali island is located. Ocalan has been kept in prison at the island since 1999 for his party’s decades-long deadly war with the state. 

The delegation consists of three lawmakers from the main backers of the peace process—namely the ruling AKP, its far-right ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).

The members of the delegation visiting Ocalan are AKP’s Husein Yayman, DEM Party’s Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit, and MHP’s Feti Yildiz.  

Media close DEM Party reported that the delegation has already arrived at Imrali. 

A 51-member parliamentary commission, formed earlier this year to provide a legal framework for the ongoing peace talks between Ankara and the PKK to end four decades of a deadly conflict, met on Friday to decide if a delegation from the body should visit jailed PKK leader Ocalan at Imrali prison. 

The AKP, the DEM Party, and the MHP, along with two smaller parties, voted in favor of the visit, while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) boycotted the session. The CHP has faced strong criticism for its stance.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday welcomed the parliament's decision to send the delegation to Imrali.

"We evaluate the commission's latest decision as one that will open the way for the process, contribute to the process, and accelerate the liquidation of terrorism," he was cited by state media as telling reporters while returning from South Africa, where he attended a meeting of G20 leaders. 

In February, Ocalan issued a historic call for his followers to lay down their arms and dissolve the party he founded in 1978. By May, the PKK had carried out both directives. The group has since taken additional measures to facilitate the process, the most recent being the withdrawal of its fighters from the strategic Mount Zap - a territory Ankara has been unable to control despite years of intense military operations.

PKK supports parliament-Ocalan meeting

PKK, which has temporarily renamed itself as the Kurdistan Freedom Movement since its dissolution, had repeatedly called for a meeting between the parliamentary delegation and Ocalan. 

Murat Karayilan, a senior commander of the PKK, told the group’s media during an interview aired on Saturday that it is important for the commission to meet with Ocalan. 

“Everyone who wants to protect Turkey's future must act responsibly. From this perspective, the commission's visit is a positive step and will strengthen the ground for a solution,” he told Sterk TV. 

Karayilan renewed his call for Ocalan’s “physical freedom,” adding that this will help the parties to conduct the peace process in a "healthy way.”

Updated at 2:13 pm