Striking behind-the-scenes details on the new peace process: Is house arrest coming for terrorist leader Öcalan?

MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli is the architect of the new peace process, which the government has dubbed a 'Terror-Free Turkey.' As part of this process, Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan from the DEM Party Imralı delegation—who have met with terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan three times—went to the Presidential Palace on April 10 to visit AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

While the DEM Party establishing contact with Erdoğan for the first time in 13 years is being evaluated as a 'critical threshold' for the new peace process, the delegation will meet with Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç on Friday.

Evaluating the developments in her column today, Nefes newspaper columnist Nuray Babacan shared striking behind-the-scenes details in her article titled "No steps without the PKK dissolving."

“NO PREPARATIONS OR PLANS YET…”

“Those who place too much meaning on the meeting the DEM delegation will hold at the Ministry of Justice on Friday will be mistaken. There are no preliminary preparations or plans yet. No 'legal work' will be initiated before the PKK dissolves itself and surrenders its weapons,” wrote Babacan, stating that the ministry is currently in a holding pattern.

Stating that the meeting will be held as a declaration of good will, Babacan added: “According to those following the process closely, intelligence bureaucrats, Ministry of Justice bureaucrats, and representatives of the Palace will later come together to conduct preliminary work on the possibilities. Legal preparations and steps will be taken after that. At best, this means the summer months. They already have an old roadmap regarding the steps taken in 2015.”

HOUSE ARREST FOR ÖCALAN

Emphasizing that a topic such as the release of terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan is not being discussed anywhere, Nuray Babacan stated that it is being explained that the terrorist leader will not be moved from Imralı to house arrest, and that at most, he might be able to host guests and communicate with the outside world, and added:

“It even seems that they have stepped back from the idea of him moving within the country with permission.”

THE GOAL IS TO SAVE ERDOĞAN

Expressing that politicians have clear ideas about the process, Babacan wrote: “The biggest dream of the AKP members is to hold early elections on a date they foresee. The goal is to pave the way for President Tayyip Erdoğan to be a candidate again. For this, they need the votes of the DEM Party in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Furthermore, they want to get a boost from the DEM Party in the elections. They are planning to ensure the return of conservative Kurdish voters who abandoned the AKP. After all, it is known that the peace process will alienate nationalist voters from the party. While all this is being discussed, what should we make of MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli’s repeated emphasis that the elections will be held on time?”

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News Source: 12punto