ANKARA: A Turkish parliamentary delegation held talks Monday with Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group, as part of an ongoing peace initiative to end a decades-long conflict.
The rare meeting with Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, centered on the militant group’s decision earlier this year to disband and lay down arms. It also addressed the implementation of an agreement that envisioned integrating Kurdish forces into a new Syrian army, according to a statement from the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union, has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish government since 1984. It initially sought an independent Kurdish state, later shifting to demands for autonomy and expanded rights within Turkiye. The conflict has spilled into neighboring Iraq and Syria.
The implementation of the March 10 agreement between Syria’s government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, has largely stalled.
Turkiye views the SDF as being closely linked to the PKK. It has been pressing for the execution of the deal, driven by concerns that the Syrian Kurdish fighters could retain autonomy in Syria and continue to pose security risks along its border.
“The meeting concluded with positive outcomes aimed at strengthening social cohesion, brotherhood, and advancing the process from a regional perspective,” Monday’s statement read, adding that the delegation had gathered “detailed declarations” from Ocalan during the talks.
Media reports said the meeting between Ocalan and three legislators on the prison island of Imrali, near Istanbul, lasted for five hours.
Ocalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999, remains an influential figure among Kurds and is seen as key in advancing the peace process aimed at ending the insurgency.
The PKK announced in May that it would disarm and disband, ending four decades of hostilities, heeding a call by Ocalan.
The group later held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq, where fighters began laying down their weapons, and announced last month that it was withdrawing its remaining forces from Turkiye to Iraq.
Previous peace efforts between Turkiye and the PKK collapsed, most recently in 2015.
Turkish delegation holds rare peace talks with jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan
https://arab.news/w5s42
Turkish delegation holds rare peace talks with jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan
- The rare meeting with Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, centered on the militant group’s decision earlier this year to disband and lay down arms
Lebanon urges UNSC delegation to press Israel to respect ceasefire
- Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged a United Nations Security Council delegation on Friday to pressure Israel to respect a year-old ceasefire and to support his army’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.
Aoun “stressed the need to pressure the Israeli side to implement the ceasefire and withdraw, and expressed his hope for pressure from the delegation,” according to a statement from the presidency.
He also noted “Lebanon’s commitment to implementing international resolutions” and asked the envoys to support the Lebanese army’s efforts to disarm non-government groups.
The Lebanese government ordered its military to fully disarm Hezbollah in August, and the army expects to complete the first phase of its plan by the end of the year.
The UN delegation visited Damascus on Thursday and after its meeting with Aoun was due to inspect the border area in southern Lebanon on Saturday, accompanied by US envoy Morgan Ortagus.
The visit comes as Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades.
On Thursday, Information Minister Paul Morcos quoted Aoun calling the initial negotiations “positive” and stressing “the need for the language of negotiation — not the language of war — to prevail.”
That same day, Israel struck four southern Lebanese towns, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure including weapons depots to stop the group from rearming.
UN peacekeepers called the strikes “clear violations of Security Council resolution 1701,” which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The peacekeepers also said their vehicles were fired on by six men on three mopeds near Bint Jbeil on Thursday. There were no injuries in the incident.
“Attacks on peacekeepers are unacceptable and serious violations of resolution 1701,” the international force added.
Hezbollah refuses to disarm but has not responded to Israeli attacks since the ceasefire. It has, however, promised a response to the killing of its military chief in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs last month.
