Error occured during this request! Please try again later.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s justice minister said on Tuesday that his ministry ‘will work’ on specifying a date for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party’s (DEM Party) requested meeting with jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Last month the DEM Party submitted a request to the Turkish ministry to meet with Ocalan after the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli called for allowing the pro-Kurdish party to meet the PKK leader in Imrali Island.
“The application letter was on November 26. We received the letter. As I mentioned to you at the time, we said, ‘We are reviewing it,’ this process is ongoing. We will work on determining an appropriate date. God willing, we will inform you of the outcome,” Yilmaz Tunc told reporters in Ankara.
Tunc did not respond to reporters when asked whether the meeting would be held soon.
Last month, a Turkish court extended a ban on meetings between Ocalan and his lawyers for six months. Ocalan last met with his family in October. Before the meeting, the PKK leader was under strict isolation for over three years. Ocalan’s elder brother, Mehmet, last had a short phone call with him in March 2021. Numerous requests by lawyers and family to meet the PKK leader had been rejected.
In October, Turkey witnessed a drastic shift in Bahceli’s position on Ocalan and the Kurdish issue, when he proposed allowing the PKK leader to appear in the legislature and call for the dissolution of the armed group.
Bahceli’s proposal was met with mixed reactions, with strong rejections from the country’s far-right politicians.
The ultranationalist MHP leader said at the time that combating what he labeled as “terrorism” was “essential” to reaching a political consensus in the country.
For years, Bahceli has been a stubborn opponent of pro-Kurdish parties in the country, including the DEM Party, for their alleged PKK affiliation.
Bahceli’s proposal in October reignited the possibility of the renewal of a peace process in Turkey.
In 2013, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AKP) government entered into peace talks with the PKK, paving the way for an unprecedented opening towards Kurds in the country. Kurdish politicians were able to speak freely about their rights, a topic that was previously taboo.
The peace talks, which were mediated by the DEM Party’s predecessor the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), collapsed in 2015 and were followed by intense urban fighting in the country’s southwestern Kurdish areas.
Last month the DEM Party submitted a request to the Turkish ministry to meet with Ocalan after the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli called for allowing the pro-Kurdish party to meet the PKK leader in Imrali Island.
“The application letter was on November 26. We received the letter. As I mentioned to you at the time, we said, ‘We are reviewing it,’ this process is ongoing. We will work on determining an appropriate date. God willing, we will inform you of the outcome,” Yilmaz Tunc told reporters in Ankara.
Tunc did not respond to reporters when asked whether the meeting would be held soon.
Last month, a Turkish court extended a ban on meetings between Ocalan and his lawyers for six months. Ocalan last met with his family in October. Before the meeting, the PKK leader was under strict isolation for over three years. Ocalan’s elder brother, Mehmet, last had a short phone call with him in March 2021. Numerous requests by lawyers and family to meet the PKK leader had been rejected.
In October, Turkey witnessed a drastic shift in Bahceli’s position on Ocalan and the Kurdish issue, when he proposed allowing the PKK leader to appear in the legislature and call for the dissolution of the armed group.
Bahceli’s proposal was met with mixed reactions, with strong rejections from the country’s far-right politicians.
The ultranationalist MHP leader said at the time that combating what he labeled as “terrorism” was “essential” to reaching a political consensus in the country.
For years, Bahceli has been a stubborn opponent of pro-Kurdish parties in the country, including the DEM Party, for their alleged PKK affiliation.
Bahceli’s proposal in October reignited the possibility of the renewal of a peace process in Turkey.
In 2013, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AKP) government entered into peace talks with the PKK, paving the way for an unprecedented opening towards Kurds in the country. Kurdish politicians were able to speak freely about their rights, a topic that was previously taboo.
The peace talks, which were mediated by the DEM Party’s predecessor the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), collapsed in 2015 and were followed by intense urban fighting in the country’s southwestern Kurdish areas.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment