Turkish Leaders Plan Meeting with Imprisoned Kurdish Figure

Turkish politicians are planning to meet with Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who has been in prison for over two decades. This meeting comes after a suggestion from Devlet Bahceli, a strong ally of President Erdogan. Erdogan himself has hinted that he might allow Ocalan to speak to the lawmakers. Last year, the PKK made a big announcement. They said they would stop fighting and give up their weapons. This was a huge deal because the PKK has been involved in a long and violent conflict in Turkey. The group has been labeled as a terrorist organization by many countries, including the United States and the European Union. In July, the PKK even burned some of their weapons as a symbol of their commitment to peace. They also said they were pulling their fighters out of Turkey. But they asked the Turkish government to take steps to let their members join in the political process. However, the road to peace is not smooth. The Turkish government is careful about offering amnesty to the PKK members for what they consider past crimes. There have been talks about a law that would allow thousands of PKK fighters and civilians to return home from northern Iraq, but nothing has been finalized yet. On Friday, a majority of lawmakers voted to visit Ocalan in his prison on Imrali Island. Ocalan has been held there in almost complete isolation since his arrest in 1999. The only people who have visited him regularly are lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, who have played a big role in the disarmament process. The conflict between the PKK and the Turkish government has been going on for four decades. It started with the aim of creating an independent state in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. The fighting has caused a lot of deaths, economic problems, and social and political divisions.