, for a second time as part of ongoing talks aimed at resolving the Kurdish conflict, Voice of America (VOA) Turkish edition reported on Monday.){kind=link}
Officials from Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party have applied to the Justice Ministry for permission to meet with Abdullah Öcalan, jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), for a second time as part of ongoing talks aimed at resolving the Kurdish conflict, Voice of America (VOA) Turkish edition reported on Monday.
Öcalan, who founded the PKK nearly half a century ago to fight for Kurdish rights, has been held in a high-security prison on İmralı Island since 1999.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) said in a written statement that a quick response is expected to their application that would allow the party delegation, comprising lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan, to meet with Öcalan for a second time.
The delegation made its first visit to the PKK leader in nearly 10 years on December 28.
Following their visit to Öcalan, the DEM Party delegation initiated talks with political parties.
If permission is granted, the delegation will share the information regarding the contacts made after the first meeting with the PKK leader.
The permission for the first visit came after far-right Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahçeli, a key ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, proposed the move as part of a bid to end the 40-year-old conflict between the state and the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
The PKK has been waging a bloody war in Turkey’s southeast since 1984, with tens of thousands of people killed in the conflict.
Bahçeli surprised many when he suggested in October that if prison restrictions imposed on Öcalan were lifted, he could appear at the party group meeting of the DEM Party and declare the dissolution of the PKK, signaling an end to decades of violence.
In his call, backed by Erdoğan as a “historic opportunity” to resolve the Kurdish issue, Bahçeli also suggested that if Öcalan takes this step, there could be legislative action to pave the way for his possible release.
A recent survey by the İstanbul-based Spectrum House revealed that 58.5 percent of Turkish citizens disapprove of Bahçeli’s call to Öcalan.