DEM Party delegation meets Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island, reviving dialogue on Kurdish issue

ISTANBUL — A delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, DEM Party) held a four-hour meeting with imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê, PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan on Thursday at İmralı Island, marking a significant step in the ongoing dialogue on the Kurdish issue.

The delegation, composed of Pervin Buldan, Mithat Sancar, and Faik Özgür Erol, released a statement following the visit. They reported that discussions focused on the next phase of what Öcalan described as the “Call for Peace and Democratic Society,” emphasizing that the process requires delicate handling and concrete action at multiple levels.

“The problem we face has become so serious that it requires special surgical intervention,” Öcalan warned, according to the delegation that. “Our goal is to do everything in our power to end this painful phase.”

He outlined three central principles for the new process — democratic society, peace, and integration — stressing that its success would benefit all people in Turkey.

The meeting followed the recent creation of a parliamentary committee called “National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy,” announced in Ankara as part of renewed efforts to resolve the Kurdish issue after years of deadlock. Thursday’s meeting was the first between Öcalan and a political delegation since the committee’s establishment.

Öcalan cautioned that “some political and media circles are simplifying or ignoring this process,” warning that such attitudes could harm progress.

The last political delegation met with Öcalan on 25 July, making this latest encounter a sign of renewed momentum in national dialogue. The development has stirred anticipation within both Turkish and Kurdish political circles about the potential outcomes of the next phase.