A delegation from one of Turkey's biggest pro-Kurdish political parties recently met with a prominent figure of the Kurdish movement in prison, signaling a potential step towards resolving the country's longstanding conflict. The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) representatives visited Selahattin Demirtas, the former co-chairperson of the party, who has been incarcerated since 2016 on terrorism charges widely viewed as politically motivated.
Two weeks prior to this meeting, DEM members had also met with Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been engaged in armed conflict with the Turkish state since the 1980s. The DEM, representing left-leaning Kurdish nationalism, has faced repression from the government, including the imprisonment of elected officials and party bans.
