The Imrali delegation of the DEM Party met with Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the ultra-nationalist MHP, in the Turkish parliament for a political exchange on Friday. The talks focused on the results of the recent visit to Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on the prison island of Imrali and the demand for a legal basis for the next phase of the Kurdish-Turkish dialogue.
The meeting was attended by DEM Party MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, as well as Faik Özgür Erol, a lawyer from the Istanbul-based Asrın Law Office. Bahçeli personally welcomed the delegation in front of his parliamentary group office. The meeting then took place behind closed doors in Bahçeli’s office.
Buldan: A very important and valuable meeting
After the meeting, Buldan told journalists: “It was a very important and valuable meeting. Given the stage the process has reached, we believe it is necessary to move forward on a new basis and through a new phase. We must say that we have moved on to the second phase. In the second phase, there is a need for a legal, judicial basis. There is a need for legal regulation. Of course, there must be a peace law; we want to emphasize this in particular. From now on, the work to be done by both the commission and the political parties will be important at this level. That is why we conveyed our views to Mr. Bahçeli. We conveyed our expectations regarding the laws to him and asked for his contributions. Mr. Bahçeli has already made very valuable contributions since the beginning of the process, and we sincerely believe that he will continue to do so.”
Words of support from Bahçeli
Bahçeli’s reaction attracted particular attention. The MHP leader made a brief but unambiguous statement after the meeting: “Ms. Buldan addressed everything openly. I endorse every word she said.”
Buldan concluded by announcing that the series of talks with other politicians would continue. The aim, she said, was “to address society’s expectations for peace, justice, and a democratic solution in parliament.”