FIRSTLY WITH THE YOUNGER BROTHER : PKK leader Öcalan to meet with brother prior to Kurdish delegation
PM says Kurdish delegation to go to İmralı to be confirmed
18 February 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL – The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, is to receive a visit from his brother today before the long-awaited arrival of a Kurdish delegation that is expected to join the ongoing peace talks.Mehmet Öcalan set off by boat for the island of İmralı from the port of Gemlik in northwestern Turkey early on Monday to see his brother.
“This is a family visit; it doesn’t have any political motivation,” Mehmet Öcalan told the Anatolia news agency. He refused to comment on the peace talks aimed at ending the Kurdish conflict. Abdullah Öcalan’s brother last visited him on Jan. 14.
This latest visit comes before a long-awaited visit by a Kurdish delegation.
Last week, the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy (BDP) named three Kurdish politicians — Ahmet Türk, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and an independent deputy; BDP Co-Chairperson Selahattin Demirtaş; and BDP parliamentary group deputy chairwoman Pervin Buldan — who will join the peace talks with the PKK.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Sunday that which Kurdish politicians will meet with Öcalan were to be decided on Sunday evening, but no further statements have yet been made by the prime minister.