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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will accept a delegation of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), also known as the Imralı delegation, next Tuesday to discuss the latest developments and future steps of the terror-free Türkiye initiative, Turkish media reported Thursday.
The reports based on DEM Party sources said that lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar would meet with Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex in the capital, Ankara.
The Imralı delegation is a delegation made up of DEM Party lawmakers who have been pursuing dialogue with the PKK’s jailed ringleader, Abdullah Öcalan, on Imralı Island.
While this latest meeting is seen as a sign that the terror-free Türkiye initiative continues without interruption, it is also expected that the possibility of the parliamentary commission created for this process visiting Imralı Island will also be discussed.
Earlier this month, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli said that a delegation of commission members should meet face-to-face with Öcalan, receive his messages firsthand and share them with the public. However, no specific comment came from Erdoğan himself.
The terror-free Türkiye initiative was launched last year by government ally MHP when its leader, Bahçeli, implied that the government should facilitate access to Öcalan, so that he could call on the PKK to lay down arms. Bahçeli’s proposal was endorsed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had earlier hinted at the initiative with messages of unity between Turks and Kurds. The PKK has long justified its campaign of terrorism as a fight for the rights of Kurds. Both Bahçeli and Erdoğan have repeatedly said that ending terrorism and maintaining unity were essential for Türkiye’s “home front” in the face of Israeli aggression in the region, pointing to the fact that Israel may target Türkiye next as part of its expansionist policies. Öcalan responded positively to Bahçeli’s call and urged the PKK to lay down arms. In July, the PKK started the disarmament process with a ceremony in northern Iraq. The complete disarmament of the group is expected to be concluded by the end of 2025.
