The Japan Times - Turkey's pro-Kurd party teases 'historic' news from PKK leader

The pro-Kurdish DEM party will send a delegation Thursday to meet Ocalan at his prison on an island off Istanbul, it said in a statement.

The visit, the third in the past few months, comes as Ankara seeks to reset ties with the PKK, which has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

"If everything goes smoothly, tomorrow, we expect Ocalan to make a historic declaration," said DEM, whose visit to the jailed PKK leader was approved by the justice ministry on Wednesday.

It said there would be a statement to the press following the visit, at about 5:00 pm (1400 GMT).

The seven-person delegation, which includes Ocalan's lawyer, Faik Ozgur Erol, would like the PKK leader to make his expected peace appeal in a video message instead of by writing, but the justice ministry has not yet agreed, Turkish media reported.

- Uncertain extent -

Ocalan, 75, has been serving life without parole on Imrali prison island since his 1999 arrest in Kenya.

But starting in late December, he has been twice visited by two DEM lawmakers who then briefed the parliamentary parties on the content of their talks.

The dialogue with Ocalan is an initiative of ultra-nationalist political leader Devlet Bahceli, a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and has led to growing anticipation that Ocalan will soon issue a public call to his fighters to lay down their arms, in exchange for concessions for the country's Kurdish minority.

PKK leaders, who are mostly based in the mountains of Northern Turkey, could then relay Ocalan's message, Turkish media said.

But the extent of Ocalan's appeal is uncertain.

Thursday's delegation includes DEM co-chairs Tulay Hatimogullari and Tuncer Bakirhan, and veteran Kurdish politician Ahmet Turk, 82, who has a long history of involvement in efforts to resolve the Kurdish issue.

Deputy speaker Sirri Sureyya Onder and lawmaker Pervin Buldan, who were both part of the earlier delegations, will also go, as will another DEM lawmaker.

The conflict between PKK rebels and the Turkish state, which erupted in 1984, has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

A previous round of peace talks collapsed in a storm of violence in 2015, after which the Turkish government cut off all contact.

K.Abe--JT