Turkey has decided to allow the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) to hold talks with jailed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, the pro-government Sabah newspaper reported on Monday, citing Reuters. It would be the first such visit in nearly a decade, BTA reported.
The DEM party delegation is expected to visit the prison on Imrali Island on Thursday or Friday, Sabah reported. on his website, without citing his source.
In October, Turkish nationalist leader Devlet Bahçeli surprisingly suggested that the imprisoned leader of the outlawed PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, be allowed to speak in parliament if he declared an end to the organization's insurgency, which could open the door to his early release.
Yocalan has been serving a life sentence in prison on the island of Imrali near Istanbul since 1999, and the PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the EU and the United States. Öcalan hinted later in October that he was ready for possible peace talks with Turkey if the conditions were created for this.
The pro-Kurdish DEM party is the third largest force in the Turkish parliament with 57 deputies, after the president's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).