Turkey’s imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader says he is willing to work with authorities for peace

ISTANBUL (AP) — Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Turkey’s banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has said that he is willing to contribute to peace between Turks and Kurds, in a statement issued by the pro-Kurdish DEM party Sunday.

“I possess the necessary competence and determination to contribute positively to the new paradigm supported by Mr. Bahçeli and Mr. Erdoğan,” the statement read, referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his nationalist ally, Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.

Ocalan has been serving a life term in prison on the Imrali island off Istanbul since 1999, after being convicted of treason. The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous state in Turkey’s southeast since 1984, and the violence has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

Devlet Bahceli, who has traditionally maintained a hardline stance against the PKK, had surprised everyone in October when he suggested in parliament that Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounced violence and disbanded the PKK. Erdogan offered tacit support for his ally a week later. At the time Ocalan himself had said he was ready to work for peace in a message conveyed by his nephew.

Two senior members of DEM, or the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, Pervin Buldan and Sirri Sureyya Onder met with Ocalan at his prison island on Saturday. The meeting was closed to the press, and no details were released until the following day. Sunday’s one-page statement offers bullet points of what was discussed in the meeting, namely a call for all parties to work together for peace.

“This is an era of peace, democracy, and fraternity for Turkey and the region,” reads the statement’s last line.