Skip to main content

Turkey to allow pro-Kurdish party to visit jailed militant leader

1 min Mena Today

Turkey has decided to allow parliament's pro-Kurdish DEM Party to hold face-to-face talks with militant leader Abdullah Ocalan on his island prison, the party said on Friday, setting up the first such visit in nearly a decade.

Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) display flags with a portrait of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 17, 2024. Reuters/Umit Bektas

Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) display flags with a portrait of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 17, 2024. Reuters/Umit Bektas

Turkey has decided to allow parliament's pro-Kurdish DEM Party to hold face-to-face talks with militant leader Abdullah Ocalan on his island prison, the party said on Friday, setting up the first such visit in nearly a decade.

DEM requested the visit last month, soon after a key ally of President Tayyip Erdogan expanded on a proposal to end the 40-year-old conflict between the state and Ocalan's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Ocalan has been serving an expanded life sentence in a prison on the island of Imrali, south of Istanbul, since his capture 25 years ago.

Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever

Related

Turkey

Turkish police detain 11 over opposition-led economic boycott

Turkish police have detained 11 people as part of an investigation into social media calls for an economic boycott backed by the opposition following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, state media reported on Thursday.

Turkey

Israel warns of Turkish expansionism in Syria

Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria overnight, declaring the attacks a warning to the new Islamist rulers in Damascus as it accused their Turkish allies on Thursday of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Mena banner 4

To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.

  • Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.