ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) described its Sunday meeting with Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as “highly productive,” signaling renewed momentum in the ongoing peace efforts between Ankara and the PKK. In a statement, the DEM Party reported that Ocalan was in “good health and spirits,” quoting him as emphasizing that the peace process is “entering a new phase.” He underscored that "responsibilities fall on everyone, on all of us, to fulfill the requirements of the [peace] process" as new steps are taken. Earlier in the day, DEM Party officials announced they had held a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Ocalan at Imrali prison.The delegation included senior party figures Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, as well as Ocalan’s lawyer, Ozgur Faik Erol. The meeting is part of a broader, months-long initiative led by the DEM Party to resolve the four-decade-long conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state - a conflict that has claimed more than 40,000, the majority of them PKK fighters. While some have referred to the efforts as a peace process, Ankara continues to frame them as part of its “Free-Terror Turkey” campaign. In May, the PKK announced plans to dissolve and end its armed campaign in response to a February appeal by Ocalan, who urged the group to lay down its arms and pursue a political path to securing Kurdish rights in Turkey. Ankara has cautiously welcomed the PKK’s move but insists on seeing concrete steps before considering the disarmament process complete. The PKK, in turn, expects democratic reforms from the Turkish government in exchange for ending its insurgency. Importantly, the DEM Party’s meeting with Ocalan came just one day ahead of a scheduled meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. The meeting will be the second of its kind, following a historic encounter on April 10 - the first between Erdogan and a pro-Kurdish party in over a decade. The PKK leader was quoted on Sunday as describing the upcoming meeting with Erdogan as “historic,” and emphasized the importance of a commission expected to be formed in the Turkish legislature, which he said could play a key role in promoting peace and reconciliation. He also expressed “extremely strong” hope in the process’s potential to contribute to Turkey’s democratization. Sunday’s meeting also comes ahead of a planned disarmament ceremony by a group of PKK fighters in the Kurdistan Region’s eastern Sulaimani province. Sources informed Rudaw last week that the first group of fighters - estimated to be between 20 and 30 individuals - is expected to formally disarm in early July during a ceremony in Sulaimani’s Raparin administration. The location was reportedly chosen due to “security considerations.” A DEM Party delegation is expected to attend. Founded in 1978, the PKK originally sought to establish an independent Kurdish state. In recent decades, however, the group has shifted its focus to advocating for political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. Separately, the DEM Party on Sunday issued a statement offering condolences following the deaths of five Turkish soldiers who were exposed to methane gas in the Kurdistan Region, highlighting the ongoing human toll of the conflict. “The entire society is paying the price for the long-standing conflict and unresolved issues,” the party said, adding that “the only way to prevent such pain from ever being experienced again is through social peace and a will for resolution,” the statement added, urging a shared future based on justice and peace. The DEM Party statement regarding the meeting with Ocalan cited him as saying he was “deeply concerned” by the deadly incident. Earlier in the day, the Turkish defense ministry confirmed that five military personnel had died during a search operation in the Kurdistan Region after being exposed to methane gas inside a cave. The operation was part of an ongoing effort to recover the body of Nuri Melih Bozkurt, a Turkish officer killed by militants in 2022. Although the ministry did not specify the exact location of the incident, it noted that the search effort was part of Operation Claw-Lock - a military campaign launched by Turkey in April 2022 targeting PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region’s northern Duhok province.
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