Turkish delegation holds rare peace talks with jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan
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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish parliamentary delegation held talks Monday with Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group, as part of an ongoing peace initiative to end a decades-long conflict.
The rare meeting with Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, centered on the militant group’s decision earlier this year to disband and lay down arms. It also addressed the implementation of an agreement that envisioned integrating Kurdish forces into a new Syrian army, according to a statement from the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish government since 1984. It initially sought an independent Kurdish state, later shifting to demands for autonomy and expanded rights within Turkey. The conflict has spilled into neighboring Iraq and Syria.
The implementation of the March 10 agreement between Syria’s government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, has largely stalled.
Turkey views the SDF as being closely linked to the PKK. It has been pressing for the execution of the deal, driven by concerns that the Syrian Kurdish fighters could retain autonomy in Syria and continue to pose security risks along its border.
“The meeting concluded with positive outcomes aimed at strengthening social cohesion, brotherhood, and advancing the process from a regional perspective,” Monday’s statement read, adding that the delegation had gathered “detailed declarations” from Ocalan during the talks.
Media reports said the meeting between Ocalan and three legislators on the prison island of Imrali, near Istanbul, lasted for five hours.
Ocalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999, remains an influential figure among Kurds and is seen as key in advancing the peace process aimed at ending the insurgency.
The PKK announced in May that it would disarm and disband, ending four decades of hostilities, heeding a call by Ocalan.
The group later held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq, where fighters began laying down their weapons, and announced last month that it was withdrawing its remaining forces from Turkey to Iraq.
Previous peace efforts between Turkey and the PKK collapsed, most recently in 2015.