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A Turkish parliamentary delegation visited Imrali Island to meet with imprisoned PKK terror group ringleader Abdullah Ocalan, the Turkish Parliament’s Presidency confirmed Monday, in what marks the latest step in the government’s “Terror-Free Türkiye” peace initiative.
The delegation, comprising members of a parliamentary commission overseeing the peace process, visited the Imrali High-Security Prison on Nov. 24, the statement said.
The lawmakers took statements from Ocalan regarding the PKK’s declared disarmament, the March 10 Syria agreement, and the integration of the YPG-led SDF into the Damascus system.
The visit took place after Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli's public call, urging the parliamentary delegation to visit the island to accelerate the peace process.
“Following the Peace and Democratic Society Call made on Feb. 27, detailed statements were received regarding the organization’s declarations on its dissolution and disarmament, as well as questions concerning the implementation of the March 10 agreement in Syria,” the statement said.
The YPG, the Syrian branch of the PKK, a designated terrorist organisation, dominates the SDF.
While the statement did not name the members of the delegation, it said the visit lasted approximately three hours and was carried out in line with a Nov. 21 vote by the National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission.
The vote in the parliamentary committee followed calls by Bahceli for progress in the peace process. “If no one goes, I will take three colleagues and go myself,” Bahceli said on Nov. 18.
The committee approved the visit with 32 votes in favor, three abstentions, and two against. It consists of 51 members: 21 from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), 11 from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), five from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), four from the MHP, and eight from other parties.
According to parliamentary sources, the delegation submitted to the Speaker’s Office included AK Party Deputy Chair Huseyin Yayman, MHP Deputy Chair Feti Yildiz, and DEM Party Parliamentary Group Deputy Chair Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit.
The Parliament’s statement said that the commission, since its first meeting on Aug. 5, 2025, had convened 18 times and conducted hearings with stakeholders.
“At the 18th meeting, a qualified-majority decision was taken to hear Abdullah Ocalan at the Imrali High-Security Penal Institution,” it said. “Positive outcomes were achieved in terms of social cohesion, strengthening fraternity, and advancing the process from a regional perspective.”
The commission is expected to reconvene on Wednesday to present notes from the visit.
The visit follows a string of developments since Ocalan’s February call for peace. The PKK declared a ceasefire on March 1, and, between May 5 and 7, held its 12th Congress, where it formally voted to dissolve its organizational structure and end its armed struggle strategy.
In July, a group of 30 PKK members, 15 of them women, surrendered in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province and symbolically destroyed their weapons by throwing them into a burning cauldron.
The group’s official withdrawal declaration came in October, marking the culmination of eight months of gradual steps aimed at ending decades of armed conflict.
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