DEM Party refutes reports of scheduled meeting with Abdullah Ocalan

This rejection followed a report by the pro-government Sabah newspaper, which detailed that the Justice Ministry had approved the DEM Party's request to meet Ocalan.

The official logo of People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM). (Photo: Kurdistan24)
The official logo of People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM). (Photo: Kurdistan24)

Dec. 26, 2024

Erbil (Kurdistan24) – The People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) rejected claims that Turkey's Justice Ministry had notified it about an forthcoming meeting with imprisoned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.

This rejection followed a report by the pro-government Sabah newspaper, which detailed that the Justice Ministry had approved the DEM Party's request to meet Ocalan.

The report implied that the meeting could take place either on Thursday or on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024.

The delegation apparently set to meet Ocalan in İmralı Prison includes DEM Party Istanbul Deputy and Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, and DEM Party Van Deputy Pervin Buldan.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunç recently stated that a meeting between the DEM Party and Ocalan could take place after the approval of the 2025 budget talks.

However, neither the Justice Ministry nor other relevant authorities have confirmed this information to the DEM Party.

Earlier this week, a DEM Party delegation, accompanied by a number of politicians and activists from Northern Kurdistan, visited the Turkish Ministry of Justice to officially request a meeting with Ocalan.

This development comes months after Abdullah Ocalan’s nephew and PKK MP, Omar Ocalan, met with his uncle in İmralı Prison on Oct. 23, 2024, marking the first such visit in over two and a half years.