Turkish pro-Kurd MPs meet veteran Kurdish leader in Iraq

By AFP
February 17, 2025
A handout picture provided by the office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader on February 16, 2025, shows the KDP chief Masoud Barzani (right) meeting with Co-leader of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Pervin Buldan in Barzani’s office in Erbil. —AFP
A handout picture provided by the office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader on February 16, 2025, shows the KDP chief Masoud Barzani (right) meeting with Co-leader of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Pervin Buldan in Barzani’s office in Erbil. —AFP

ARBIL, Iraq: Pro-Kurdish Turkish lawmakers conveyed a message on Sunday to Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani from Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed founder of the Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK), who is expected to decide on a long-awaited peace process with Turkiye.

A delegation from the main pro-Kurdish DEM party visited Ocalan twice over the past six weeks, and then held talks with Turkey´s main parliamentary factions. Although no timing has been set for Ocalan´s statement, Kurdish politicians are confident it will be soon, and no later than Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, in March.

The Turkish delegation, which included two DEM lawmakers who met Ocalan, visited Barzani near Arbil, the capital of Iraq´s autonomous Kurdistan region, and conveyed a “message” to him from the jailed leader, Barzani´s office said.