ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) on Sunday urged authorities to accelerate the peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), warning of a prolonged slowdown as imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was moved to a new facility on Imrali Island.
“The process itself should have accelerated by now. It is a very major shortcoming that, up to today, there were many things to be done that were not done,” DEM Party spokesperson Aysegul Dogan told Rudaw on the sidelines of the “Women Come Together to Discuss a Future” conference in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Dogan stressed that the process had not completely stalled but that its “speed and tempo” had changed, with no significant steps taken.
Turkey launched a new peace process with the PKK in October 2024 after four decades of conflict over greater cultural and political rights for Kurds. The PKK formally dissolved itself in mid-2025 as part of the process, while Kurdish political representatives have called for constitutional changes recognizing the Kurdish language and guaranteeing equal citizenship.
“From the very beginning until now, we have been saying that Mr. Ocalan's conditions must be changed. Why must they be changed? So that the process can gain momentum and flow in its natural course,” Dogan said during the two-day gathering, organized at the initiative of 80 women, including journalists, writers, academics, politicians, and activists.
The peace process has entered a parliamentary and legal phase. In August, Turkey’s parliament passed legislation making certain legal measures for PKK members conditional on official verification that the group had ended its activities and surrendered its weapons. The legislation also requires confirmation by the National Security Council before the measures can take effect.
Dogan called for the newly established committees to begin their work and expressed hope that improvements to Ocalan’s detention conditions would help advance the process.
Her remarks came a day after Mithat Sancar, a member of the DEM Party’s Imrali delegation, announced in a televised interview that Ocalan had been moved to a newly built facility on Imrali Island, where he has been imprisoned since 1999. Sancar said the relocation should prompt an acceleration of the peace process.
DEM Party co-chair Tulay Hatimogullari, however, cautioned that the transfer alone did not resolve questions surrounding Ocalan’s status.
“This does not mean that the entire issue of his status has been resolved,” she told Rudaw, stressing that the new facility should enable Ocalan to meet more people involved in the peace process.
Hatimogullari said Ocalan was expected to coordinate a planned commission on peace and political participation.
“Most of the members of the commission have largely been selected. What is important now is for the commission to visit Imrali in practical terms to start working under the supervision of Mr. Ocalan,” she said, adding that DEM Party co-chairs, journalists and other figures should be granted greater access to the imprisoned leader.
Pervin Buldan, a DEM Party representative on the Imrali delegation, also downplayed the significance of Ocalan’s relocation, stressing that he remained in prison and that authorities needed to take further steps to accelerate the process.
“In our September 13 meeting [with Ocalan], we spoke about some steps that the authorities haven’t implemented, causing the process to stall. They need to take practical measures to build trust,” she told Rudaw.
The DEM Party and PKK have long called for Ocalan’s release, arguing that, as a key interlocutor in the peace process, he requires greater freedom to engage with political figures and other stakeholders.
“We call for the release of Mr. Ocalan. In other countries that had a similar process like ours, the main actors were released. This transfer is a small step, and we hope greater steps follow,” DEM Party lawmaker Meral Danis Bestas told Rudaw.
