The Turkish parliament’s committee overseeing the initiative for a terrorism-free Turkey approved on Friday by a majority that its members should visit imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in prison on the island of İmralı.
The decision was taken by the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission during a closed-door session held at the Ankara headquarters of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The 51-member body needed at least 26 votes to authorise the trip; in the end the majority Justice and Development Party (AKP), its nationalist MHP allies and the pro-Kurdish DEM party backed the proposal, for a total of 32 votes in favour, Turkish daily Cumhuriyet reported.
The main opposition CHP party, however, refused to take part in the vote, saying it disagreed with the meeting being held behind closed doors and walked out of the meeting in protest. “We do not want anything to be hidden from the public,” CHP deputy chairman Murat Emir said before the meeting, also announcing that the party will not send any representatives to İmralı due to what he called the government’s “undemocratic” measures and “continuous pressure” on CHP mayors and elected officials, stressing that a visit under these conditions “will serve no purpose“.
Gülüstan Kılıç Koçyiğit, a member of the Kurdish nationalist DEM party, indirectly criticised the CHP’s stance by recalling that “those who are part of this commission must take responsibility and stand on the right side of history… This is a historic mission”. Hours earlier, the deputy chairman of the Turkish nationalist MHP party, Feti Yıldız, had assured that the parliamentary delegation would travel to İmralı whether the CHP participated or not, although he acknowledged that “the CHP is one of the most rooted political parties and its presence would be important“.
One step closer to ending PKK terrorism in Turkey
The commission – which in recent months has sought the views of civil organisations, academics, experts and other institutions – was set up after the PKK announced in May its dissolution and the end of its armed struggle following a historic appeal less than two months earlier by Öcalan, who in late February announced that the armed organisation “has reached the end of its lifespan“.
A first group of members of the terrorist group began handing in their weapons during a ceremony in Iraq in July; the PKK, subsequently, withdrew all its remaining forces from Turkey at the end of October. According to Turkish press reports, the prison visit to Öcalan could take place in the coming days, as early as this Sunday. Each party represented in the Turkish parliamentary committee – except the CHP, by its own decision – will contribute one member to the delegation to İmralı.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
