DEM Party delegation plans another visit to Öcalan

ANKARA

A delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) is preparing to visit jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on the İmralı prison island, the party spokesperson said on June 11.

"We plan to visit İmralı as soon as possible," Ayşegül Doğan told reporters in the capital Ankara.

The delegation will include party co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, as well as members of the party’s central executive board, she said.

"We are preparing to meet with him directly in order to understand and overcome this period and to organize more strongly," Doğan added.

The upcoming visit follows a series of meetings with Öcalan that began on Dec. 28, 2024, and continued in this year's first months. The visits come amid an initiative what the government describes as the "terror-free Türkiye."

The terror group announced its decision to dissolve and disarm after a congress held from May 5-7.

Doğan also urged Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş to take swift steps to establish a parliamentary commission to oversee the process before the legislature breaks for summer recess.

PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.

Its disarmament decision came months after Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli suggested on Oct. 22 last year that Öcalan could address parliament if he publicly condemned terrorism.