Ocalan Breaks Silence on Peace Process as Pro-Kurdish Party Delegation Meets Him in İmrali
PKK leader Öcalan backs peace efforts after DEM Party visit, praises symbolic disarmament. Turkish parliament forms 51-member commission for reconciliation talks. With PKK ending armed struggle, focus shifts to political solution amid renewed dialogue.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has issued a new message regarding the ongoing peace efforts in Türkiye following a visit by a delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) to İmrali Island on Friday. The meeting is part of renewed dialogue between Kurdish political forces and the Turkish government to advance the stalled peace process.
According to the written statement released by the DEM Party on Saturday, the three-and-a-half-hour meeting focused on a range of issues including the symbolic disarmament of a PKK unit and the formation of a special parliamentary commission tasked with overseeing peace negotiations.
PKK Unit Disarms in Symbolic Gesture
The meeting comes in the wake of a symbolic gesture made on July 11, when a 30-member PKK group laid down arms during a ceremony held in Jassana Cave, located in the Sordash area of Sulaimani Province.
Referring to this disarmament, Ocalan reportedly said: “The form of the ceremony demonstrated the profound will, thought, conviction, and determination guiding this process. It carries deep significance.”
Focus Shifts to Parliamentary Commission
During the meeting, Ocalan also commented on the formation of the new parliamentary commission in Türkiye, urging swift and meaningful engagement. On Friday, Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş formally called on all party blocs to submit the names of their candidates for the commission, which will comprise 51 members.
According to current agreements, the commission’s political composition will be as follows: the ruling AK Party will have 21 members, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) 10, and both the DEM Party and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) four each. The Good Party (IYI) and New Order Party will have three each, while HÜDA-PAR, the New Welfare Party, the Labor Party, Workers Party, Democratic Party, and Social Democratic Party will each hold one seat.
Ocalan emphasized his expectation that the commission’s work would gain momentum and contribute meaningfully to peace and democracy, stating: “I await the commission’s activities in parliament to become dynamic and offer robust support for reconciliation.”
Path to Resolution Resurfaces
The latest initiative is part of what the Turkish government refers to as the “Terror-Free Türkiye” plan, while the DEM Party and Kurdish groups describe it as a “Peace and Resolution Process.” Ocalan, who has spent 26 years in prison, reiterated his call for his movement to abandon armed struggle and embrace political solutions. On February 27 of this year, he called on the PKK to convene a congress, dissolve its military wing, and end its armed campaign.
In response, the PKK held its 12th Congress from May 5–7, announcing a formal end to its armed struggle and a collective decision to pursue political resolution.
As Ankara and Kurdish leaders revisit the long-dormant process, the question now remains whether symbolic gestures and parliamentary channels can pave the way for genuine peace in a country long fractured by decades of conflict.
