DEM Party calls for Abdullah Öcalan’s release to solidify peace efforts
A delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party will visit imprisoned former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ this weekend, Mezopotamya News Agency reported on Wednesday. The visit to Demirtaş is scheduled for 11 January at Edirne Prison, and to Yüksekdağ for 12 January at Kocaeli’s Kandıra Prison.
The delegation—comprising Deputy Speaker of Parliament Sırrı Süreyya Önder, MP Pervin Buldan, and former Mardin mayor Ahmet Türk—aims to bolster political consensus after their 28 December meeting with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan at İmralı Prison. The talks followed remarks by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, who suggested Öcalan’s isolation could be lifted if he publicly called for the PKK’s dissolution and peace. Öcalan responded positively, stating he was “ready to take the necessary steps and make the call.”
Since the meeting with Öcalan, the DEM Party delegation has held a series of discussions with parliamentary leaders, emphasising political dialogue to resolve the Kurdish question.
The planned visits to Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ underscore the party’s commitment to addressing political representation and Kurdish rights amid ongoing debates in Turkey. Both leaders have been imprisoned since 2016 on charges linked to terrorism, which they deny, arguing their detention is politically motivated.
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