ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkish authorities have relocated Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, into a newly constructed section of the island prison on Imrali where he has been held since 1999, a pro-Kurdish lawmaker said Saturday.
Mithat Sancar of the DEM Party, one of the politicians who make regular visits to Ocalan, disclosed the move in a television interview. He gave few details and did not say outright that the new quarters are better, though his comments pointed that way. Better conditions for Ocalan have long been one of the main Kurdish demands in talks to end the fight with the Turkish state.
Sancar used the moment to press Ankara. He said the peace effort has stalled for roughly two months, that steps meant to happen on a timetable have not, and that the government needs to soften its hard line. He argued Ocalan should be the one coordinating the next moves and named the body set to work with him directly as the Peace and Politicization Commission.
The current push began in October 2024, when Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli suggested Ocalan address parliament and announce the group was dissolving. Ocalan urged the PKK to disarm in February 2025, and the group said three months later it would put down its weapons. Lawmakers in August approved a conditional pardon for thousands of PKK fighters, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed.
The PKK is labeled a terrorist organization by Ankara, Washington and the European Union. Its armed campaign since 1984 has left tens of thousands of people dead.
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