Kurdish lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) urged Ankara to move a stalled peace process forward after Abdullah Ocalan’s transfer to a new section of Turkiye’s Imrali prison.
DEM delegation member Mithat Sancar said Saturday in an interview with Kurdish broadcaster Medya Haber TV that the process had been paused for two months. He said the transfer should accelerate progress and that the process “cannot proceed with unilateral expectations and demands.”
The AFP news agency reported that DEM lawmaker Pervin Buldan said Sunday that Ocalan had announced the move himself. She said the new facility remains part of the prison and that the relocation alone does not resolve the question of his status.
Ocalan co-founded the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which began its armed struggle against Turkiye in 1984. Kurdish advocates have called for better conditions in his detention. Turkish forces captured Ocalan in 1999, and he has remained imprisoned on Imrali Island.
After Ocalan called in February 2025 for the PKK to disband and disarm, the group announced its dissolution in May that year. PKK leaders have continued to demand his release as part of the process.
