The DEM Party İmralı Delegation issued a written statement regarding its meeting with Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island on September 13, 2026. The meeting addressed the process in Türkiye, a democratic solution and lasting peace, concrete steps toward progress, and regional developments.
Öcalan stated that the “Peace and Democratic Society Process” had entered a new phase requiring historical responsibilities to be fulfilled without delay. He said that mutual practical steps should be taken following legal regulations and that the committees should work actively. Öcalan said that peace corresponded to laying down arms, while politicization corresponded to democratic politics and a democratic society, and noted that Türkiye faced a historic opportunity for lasting peace and a democratic solution. Calling for the will for peace to be secured through concrete legal and political regulations, Öcalan said that the process was advancing amid delicate balances. He said that the events in Rojava should be addressed on the basis of dialogue and negotiations. The delegation said that the approach was to make peace permanent, strengthen democratic politics, and democratize Türkiye.
Why it matters
The statement’s central emphasis is that peace and democratic solutions should no longer remain general objectives but should be advanced through legal regulations, mutual practical steps, and the functioning of the committees. This framework shows that the process is being addressed not only through the dimension of laying down arms but also together with strengthening the sphere of democratic politics and broadening its social basis. The emphasis that the process is advancing amid delicate balances particularly highlights the reciprocity and guarantees involved in the steps to be taken. The key question left open is the timetable for implementing the proposed legal and political regulations, how the relevant committees will be operated, and how developments in Rojava will be linked to the process as a whole on the basis of dialogue.