Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM party to meet jailed PKK leader Ocalan
The meeting will come as Ankara ramps up threats against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to disarm.
ANKARA — Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party said Tuesday it will hold a new meeting with jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, a central figure in peace talks aimed at ending the four-decade insurgency by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
On Thursday, DEM lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, along with Ocalan’s lawyer Faik Ozgur Erol, will go to Imrali Island off the coast of Istanbul, where Ocalan has been serving a life sentence without parole since 1999.
Ankara has been in peace talks with Ocalan since last spring in a bid to convince the PKK to lay down arms and disband, ending the armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey that began in 1984. Following Ocalan’s historic call for disarmament and dissolution in March, the PKK announced its intention to disarm and dissolve in May. The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
As part of the talks, Turkish authorities lifted Ocalan’s roughly three-year ban on outside contact in October, allowing visits from his family, lawyers and DEM officials. Since then, DEM lawmakers have met with him seven times, most recently in July.
The visit comes as Ankara steps up threats against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, whose leader, Mazlum Kobane, is a former protégé of Ocalan, and whose backbone militia is an offshoot of the PKK.
Turkey is pressing the SDF to lay down its arms and fully integrate into the Syrian military. The SDF, in turn, has expressed concern that the loss of autonomy could leave the group vulnerable to attacks from Islamist factions loyal to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Ankara’s threats earlier Tuesday.
“The security, peace and well-being of the Kurds are guaranteed by Turkey. Those who turn toward Ankara and Damascus will prevail,” Erdogan said in a televised speech. “Once the sword is drawn, there is no place left for pens or words,” he added.
Ankara views the SDF’s full integration into the Syrian army and the handover of territories it controls as vital for the success of the domestic peace process. Turkey is also pushing for PKK-affiliated fighters within the Kurdish-led group to leave Syria. The SDF controls roughly one-third of Syrian territory, including much of the country’s oil resources.
The delegation is also expected to brief Ocalan on ongoing discussions in the Turkish Parliament as part of the peace process. The DEM and other major parties, including Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, have been working together in a parliamentary committee set up earlier this month to draft a road map for resolving Turkey’s more than 40-year-old Kurdish conflict.
