Possible peace process: PKK leader Öcalan is allowed to receive pro-Kurdish politicians

For the first time in many years, a meeting is expected between the leader of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK, who is imprisoned in Turkey, and pro-Kurdish party officials. Dem MPs Sirri Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan are preparing for talks with Abdullah Öcalan in prison on the island of Imrali this Saturday or Sunday, a party spokesman told the German Press Agency. Accordingly, there was corresponding permission from the Ministry of Justice. It was also said that the day of the visit depends on the weather conditions to get to the island.

The PKK leader has been in prison since 1999. The organization has been fighting against the Turkish state since the 1980s. It is classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara, the European Union and the USA.

Önder was already able to visit Öcalan as part of previous reconciliation efforts on the prison island. The last attempt to achieve peace between the government and the PKK failed in 2015.

At the end of October, Öcalan was able to receive his nephew Ömer, who is also a member of the Dem party. However, the meeting was seen as one on a family rather than a political level. It happened shortly after the ultra-nationalists of the MHP party surprisingly discussed the possible release of Öcalan if the organization laid down its arms. The MHP is a government partner of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Observers saw this as a sign of the possible start of a new peace process.