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3d ago

Turkish Lawmakers Approve Unprecedented Visit to Ocalan in Push to Cement PKK Disarmament

The outreach signals Ankara’s effort to translate the PKK’s pledged disarmament into concrete steps.

A portrait of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan and a sign with the words "Serok Apo," are displayed on a hillside in the Qandil mountains, Iraq, October 26, 2025. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
FILE - Youngsters hold a photograph of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the militant Kurdish group, or PKK, in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Metin Yoksu, File)
Supporters of Abdullah Ocalan hold up a poster depicting the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Diyarbakir, south-eastern Turkey, in February 2025. AFP

Overview

  • Turkey’s parliamentary commission overseeing the process voted to send a delegation to meet Abdullah Ocalan on Imrali Island, with state media giving no date.
  • An MHP lawmaker said the trip could happen within days, while the main opposition CHP abstained from the vote and refuses to join the visit.
  • Nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli backed the move and said he would go if others decline, and Reuters reported President Erdogan signaled openness to Ocalan addressing lawmakers.
  • The planned visit follows Ocalan’s May call to end armed struggle, a July symbolic weapons burning, and the PKK’s recent announcement of withdrawing remaining fighters from Turkey.
  • Terms for reconciliation remain unresolved, including any legal pathway for returning militants, in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 and involves a group listed as terrorist by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.