Turkey: Bahceli, an ally of Erdogan, proposes talks between the pro-Kurdish party and Ocalan

The Devlet Bahceli, head of the Nationalist Action Party and a key ally of Turkish President Erdogan, broadened his proposal to end the 40-year conflict with Kurdish rebels by proposing today that the pro-Kurdish party in the Turkish parliament hold direct talks with the jailed leader of the Kurdish militants Abdullah Ocalan.

Bahceli made the proposal in parliament a month after he had proposed that Ocalan announce the end of the Kurdish insurgency in exchange for the possibility of his release.

Erdogan had described Bahceli’s initial proposal as a “historical window of opportunity“, but has made no mention of any peace process.

Ocalan, founder of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party of Kurdistan (PKK), has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali, south of Istanbul, since his arrest 25 years ago.

“We expect face-to-face contact to take place without delay between Imrali and the DEM group and we resolutely reiterate our call,” Bahceli told his party’s deputies during a session of the congress, using the island’s name to refer to Ocalan.

The DEM Party is the third largest in parliament, with 57 deputies. Its predecessor party was involved in peace talks between Ankara and Ocalan a decade ago. Bahceli regularly condemns pro-Kurdish politicians as tools of the PKK.

Growing regional instability and changing political dynamics are seen as factors pushing Ankara towards ending the conflict with the PKK. The chances of success are unclear, as Ankara has not given any indication of what this might mean.

The only concrete move so far has been the permission given by Ankara to Ocalan’s nephew to visit him. It was the first visit the Kurdish leader had received from his family in four and a half years.

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