A committee within parliament responsible for overseeing the Kurdish peace process voted today to send a delegation to meet with Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The decision marks the first time that a parliamentary body will formally visit Öcalan, a turning point in the peace process that has been going on for over a year now.
The vote was held after weeks of political debate and public discussion. The committee, which has been working since August to establish a legal framework for the process, passed the motion with 32 votes in favor, 3 against, and 2 abstentions. Eleven members, all from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), did not participate.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), its ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party supported the motion.The CHP declared it would not join the delegation either.
Abdullah Öcalan has been serving a life sentence on İmralı Island since 1999. While pro-Kurdish MPs and intelligence officials have had talks with him, a formal visit by a parliamentary committee would be an unprecedented official engagement.
The peace process, which seeks to end four decades of armed conflict, was initiated after Bahçeli proposed in October last year that Öcalan could benefit from the “right to hope,” potentially leading to his release, in exchange for dissolving the organization.
Öcalan called for the disbandment of the group in late February, and the group announced in May that it would complied with this call. The PKK has since held a symbolic disarmament ceremony and announced its withdrawal from Turkey, as well as parts of the frontline in the Kurdistan region in Iraq's north. (VK)
