Exclusive details of the meeting that took place yesterday between a seven-member delegation from the People’s Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party and imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, on the high-security Turkish prison island of İmralı, have been made public.
Mezopotamya Agency journalist Azad Altay describes the DEM delegation’s visit to İmralı Island, which lasted four hours. The delegation, consisting of Ahmet Türk, Pervin Buldan, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Tülay Hatimoğulları, Tuncer Bakırhan, Cengiz Çiçek, and Faik Özgür Erol, met with Abdullah Öcalan, who was accompanied by the only three other prisoners on the island—Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım, and Veysi Aktaş—currently held with him in İmralı prison.
According to Altay, the delegation left at 9 am TRT to fly to İmralı Island, arriving at 9.30 am where they were warmly welcomed by Abdullah Öcalan and his fellow prisoners.
Following this, they proceeded to the designated room within the prison where Öcalan’s statement would be delivered. After a brief discussion on its contents, the imprisoned Kurdish leader personally read aloud his four-page handwritten statement.
This historic announcement was recorded using three separate cameras, and all attendees applauded together upon its conclusion. Following the reading of the statement, Öcalan took individual photographs with each delegation member, culminating in the group photo that was later circulated.
The group then gathered to share a meal and discuss the process and the statement. Afterward, the delegation visited the prison garden to take another photograph. There, they were presented with photographs of Öcalan and the other prisoners—Konar, Yıldırım, and Aktaş—but were not provided with the videos of the statement.
In total, the meeting lasted almost four hours, after which the delegation flew back to Istanbul and went straight to the Elite World Hotel, where they were welcomed by hundreds of people shouting “Bijî Serok Apo!” (Long Live Leader Apo! [Abdullah Öcalan]).
Abdullah Öcalan’s historic call, entitled ‘Call for Peace and Democratic Society’, was read out in Kurdish by Ahmet Türk and in Turkish by Pervin Buldan at 5pm TRT (3pm CET) and broadcast live on television and giant screens in major Kurdish cities in Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan and northern Syria.
After the reading of the statement, Sırrı Süreyya Önder relayed Abdullah Öcalan’s words to the delegation: “Undoubtedly, in practice, the laying down of arms and the dissolution of the PKK require the recognition of democratic politics and the legal dimension.”
