 in Turkey has applied to the Justice Ministry for permission to meet with the jailed leader of an outlawed Kurdish militant group, the ANKA news agency reported on Tuesday.){kind=link}
An international delegation including lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in Turkey has applied to the Justice Ministry for permission to meet with the jailed leader of an outlawed Kurdish militant group, the ANKA news agency reported on Tuesday.
The delegation, including politicians, journalists and activists, filed their application with the Justice Ministry on Tuesday to request a meeting with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been jailed in a high-security prison on İmralı Island in the Sea of Marmara since 1999.
The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, has been waging a bloody war in Turkey’s southeast since 1984. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict.
Among the members of the international delegation are Walter Baier, president of the Party of the European Left; Francesca Ghirra, leader of the Green Left Alliance; Caterina Posterino, general manager of the Italian General Confederation of Labour; Paris city councilors Raphaëlle Primet and Jakob Migenda; the German Left Party’s Yusuf Karaçelik; and journalists Benedetta Rossi and Daniela Galie.
DEM Party lawmaker Salihe Aydeniz said, after filing their application, that the international delegation would engage in discussions with various institutions based on Öcalan’s role as a key figure in resolving the Kurdish issue.
“For a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue, the state must now see Öcalan’s determination to achieve peace,” the lawmaker added.
The “Kurdish issue,” a term prevalent in Turkey’s public discourse, refers to the demand for equal rights by the country’s Kurdish population and their struggle for recognition.
Italian journalist Benedetta Rossi said that hearing Öcalan’s voice in this process is “of vital importance” as she read out a statement on behalf of the international delegation.
“The violation of Öcalan’s inalienable rights under the isolation conditions he has endured for 25 years on İmralı Island is against national and international legal frameworks. … We believe that Abdullah Öcalan’s contribution is crucial in facilitating dialogue and understanding between the Turkish government and Kurdish communities,” she said.
The group demanded Öcalan’s release from prision and the launch of the peace talks.
The “isolation” of Öcalan refers to his inability to speak with his lawyers for years.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said the ministry would respond to a similar application filed by DEM Party Co-chairpersons Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan last week to request a meeting with Öcalan “within a reasonable time frame.”
Turkey is discussing the likelihood of a new peace process with the PKK following a call from the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli to this effect.
Bahçeli, a key ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, surprised many when he suggested in October that if Öcalan’s “isolation” were lifted, he could appear at the party group meeting of the DEM Party and declare the dissolution of the PKK, signalling an end to decades of violence.
Erdoğan backed Bahçeli’s call, saying that a “historic opportunity” to resolve the Kurdish issue should not be missed.