LETTERS TO ÖCALAN DELIVERED & INSPECTED BY TURKISH INTELLIGENCE
Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said yesterday that the government had inspected letters sent from the PKK to their imprisoned leader and found no problem with them. – The letters were delivered through intelligence officials, said Ergin.
New BDP delegation visits PKK leader Öcalan on İmralı
ISTANBUL – 18.3.2013 – Hürriyet – A delegation of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) lawmakers, consisting of BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş and deputies Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, departed from Bursa’s Mudanya district this morning to visit Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who is serving a life sentence in İmralı island prison.
The delegation is expected to receive a message from Öcalan on the ongoing peace process, based on a letter sent from PKK headquarters in Kandil and Europe.
A message from Öcalan is to be read during the Nevruz celebrations that will be held in Diyarbakır on March 21. Today’s visit comes weeks after a BDP group including Buldan, Önder and BDP Diyarbakır deputy Altan Tan traveled to İmralı island on Feb. 23 following permission from the government for a visit conducted as part of a process involving talks with Öcalan to convince PKK militants to lay down their arms.
During the visit, the group received letters written by Öcalan in an effort to lay out certain conditions for the voluntary disarmament of the PKK. The letters were sent to their intended recipients on Kandil and in Europe on Feb. 27 and the answers were delivered to Öcalan last week.
Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said yesterday that the government had inspected letters sent from the PKK to their imprisoned leader and found no problem with them. The letters were delivered through intelligence officials, said Ergin. The letters are particularly important as they will create the basis of Öcalan’s call to the PKK, expected to be read on March 21 during Nevruz celebrations, with expectations that the imprisoned leader will ask the organization to cease its armed struggle.
The missives were discussed during a meeting between Erdoğan, Ergin and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief Hakan Fidan late March 15. Demirtaş broke his silence on the process March 16, only after the government signaled its satisfaction with the letters. “These letters are not solely addressed to Öcalan. The government also reads the answers. So they also serve as a support for the government, helping it to carry forward the process,” Demirtaş said.