A senior pro-Kurdish flesh presser showed experiences {that a} new facility has been constructed on İmralı Island within the Sea of Marmara for jailed Kurdistan Staff’ Birthday party (PKK) chief Abdullah Öcalan, as he advised the Turkish executive to take concrete steps to restore a stalled peace procedure.
Tuncer Bakırhan, co-chair of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Birthday party (DEM Birthday party), stated in an interview with Medya Haber TV on Friday {that a} construction have been built for Öcalan however that its prison standing remained unclear.
“We have said the place where he will stay should be clearly defined and that these arrangements should be completed without delay,” Bakırhan stated.
“There is a structure prepared for him, a kind of compound, but what it will be called and what its legal status will be remains unclear. How it will be described when he moves there needs to be clarified. I think there could be developments on this issue soon.”
Professional-Kurdish DEM Birthday party co-chairperson and lawmaker Tuncer Bakırhan (Picture: X)
Öcalan has been hung on İmralı Island since his seize in 1999 and is serving a existence sentence. He has performed a central function in previous and up to date efforts to finish Turkey’s decades-long war with the PKK, which is designated as a 15 may organization through Turkey and its Western allies.
Bakırhan’s remarks come amid what the federal government describes as a “terrorism-free Turkey” procedure aimed toward finishing the war, even though he criticized the loss of tangible growth.
The brand new procedure used to be introduced following a marvel name from the rustic’s far-right chief, Nationalist Motion Birthday party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, in October 2024 and recommended through his political best friend President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Bahçeli requested Öcalan to instruct his crew to surrender its armed marketing campaign whilst hinting that the tip of PKK violence may result in Öcalan’s freedom.
Öcalan made a landmark name in February 2025, urging the PKK to convene a congress, lay down its hands and officially disband.
Öcalan’s name used to be broadly seen as a possible turning level in efforts to finish the war, despite the fact that questions remained concerning the prison and political framework that may accompany this type of procedure.
“We have reached a point where rhetoric and general descriptions are no longer enough. People expect concrete steps,” he stated, calling at the executive to offer a transparent roadmap.
Bakırhan additionally stated the DEM Birthday party is operating on a draft regulation aimed toward development believe between the events, noting that many Kurds stay skeptical because of previous stories.
“There is a need for a legal framework that can convince all sides,” he stated.
Turkey up to now engaged in a peace procedure with the PKK between 2013 and 2015, all the way through which Öcalan performed a key function from jail through issuing messages calling for a ceasefire and negotiations. The method collapsed in 2015 amid renewed violence, resulting in intensified army operations and a broader crackdown on Kurdish political actors.
A parliamentary fee, tasked with advancing the peace efforts and established remaining August, lately finalized a draft record outlining prison reforms connected to the peace procedure.
The record does now not explicitly cope with Öcalan’s imaginable unlock and does now not use the time period “right to hope.” Alternatively, it refers to Eu Court docket of Human Rights (ECtHR) and Turkish Constitutional Court docket rulings regarding sentence enforcement. Felony professionals be aware that such language implicitly touches at the “right to hope” theory, which calls for that even prisoners serving existence sentences have a sensible prospect of unlock after a undeniable duration.
Critics have famous that the fee has no enforcement energy, no impartial displays and that its paintings stays tied to Erdoğan’s personal political calculations, together with his want for extra parliamentary improve to increase his presidency past its 2028 constitutional restrict.
The PKK, based through Öcalan in 1978, has waged an armed insurgency in opposition to the Turkish state since 1984, claiming greater than 40,000 lives.
