site.btaPro-Kurdish DEM Party Delegation Meets with Ruling AKP and Nationalist MHP to Discuss Kurdish Issue

A delegation from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party met with representatives of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its allies from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) to discuss the next steps in resolving the Kurdish issue in Turkiye, Turkish newspapers reported on Tuesday.

The DEM representatives focused on discussing the democratic and legal steps needed to advance the process.

The meetings between DEM and AKP-MHP officials were widely covered by media outlets, including Hurriyet, Yeni Safak, Aksam, and Turkgun, which highlighted the discussions on security and political stability in Turkiye.

Meanwhile, Aksam quoted AKP spokesperson Omer Celik, who stated after a parliamentary group meeting that the government's main demand is the dissolution of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the laying down of arms.

"There is no bargaining in this process. The PKK must disband and disarm. This also applies to the Syrian Democratic Forces and the People's Protection Units," Celik said.

Turkish armed forces continue to strike Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria and Iraq.

DEM co-chairs Tulay Hatimogullari and Tuncer Bakirhan, along with Sirri Sureyya Onder and Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit, held their first meeting with MHP representatives in parliament on Monday, Hurriyet reported.

The nationalist party was represented by its deputy chairs, Semih Yalcin, Feti Yildiz, and Ismail Faruk Aksu, as leader Devlet Bahceli was absent due to health reasons.

Bahceli had previously extended an "olive branch" to PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in October, urging him in parliament to renounce terrorism and dismantle the organization.

At the end of last month, Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence on Imrali Island in the Sea of Marmara, called on the PKK to lay down its arms. The group is expected to hold a congress in the coming months to act on decisions made by its current leadership.

Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated his willingness to meet with DEM representatives, who have been in contact with Ocalan.

PKK has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and is designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the European Union, and the United States.