, whose members played a key role in recent peace talks with jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Öcalan.){kind=link}
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has met with a delegation from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), whose members played a key role in recent peace talks with jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Thursday’s meeting at the Presidential complex in Ankara, which included Efkan Ala, deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP); Turkey’s intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın; and senior Kurdish politicians Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, lasted just under 90 minutes. It was Erdoğan’s first direct meeting with representatives of Kurdish political groups in 13 years.
The meeting follows visits by Buldan, Önder and veteran Kurdish politician Ahmet Türk to Öcalan in prison as part of peace talks aimed at resolving the armed conflict between Turkey and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
As a result Öcalan issued a historic call in February for his group to lay down its arms and disband — a landmark message that was publicly read out in İstanbul.
In their first comments after the meeting, Önder described it as “very positive” and expressed increased hope for the future, while Buldan called it “very productive” and said the peace process is “progressing well.”
A written statement from the DEM Party also described the meeting as taking place in a “highly positive, constructive, productive and promising atmosphere for the future.”
The statement noted that the progress made in the process was confirmed and that the next steps were mutually discussed. It also said that “a period without violence and conflict, where the democratic and political spheres will be strengthened, is of vital importance for our country, our citizens and our region.”
Meanwhile, Ala said that he believes there has been no setback or hesitation in the peace process so far, expressing hope that a significant step regarding the PKK’s laying down of arms would be taken by the end of April.
The DEM Party delegation is expected to seek another visit to Öcalan following their meeting with Erdoğan.
Founded by Öcalan in 1978, the PKK has waged a decades-long war in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
The peace talks were initiated by a surprise call from Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and an ally of Erdoğan, when he offered Öcalan a surprise peace gesture in October if he would reject violence in a move endorsed by Erdoğan.
Öcalan, 75, has been serving a life sentence without parole on İmralı Island since his arrest in Nairobi in February 1999.
Since his detention there have been various attempts to end the bloodshed that erupted in 1984 and has cost more than 40,000 lives. The last round of talks collapsed in a storm of violence in 2015.