ANKARA
A parliamentary delegation from Turkey's Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) visited the jailed leader of the terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Sunday.
According to a statement released by HDP, Abdullah Ocalan told the delegation that the government initiative called "the solution process" entered a new phase.
"In the previous state of affairs, there was a hope for a new, serious beginning. This hope must be protected and enhanced," Ocalan was quoted as saying in the statement.
Turkey's 'solution process' began early last year with a ceasefire between the Turkish government and PKK. The government pledged democratic reforms to empower minorities, particularly the Kurdish minority, which is by far the largest forming 18 percent of the population.
Ocalan was arrested by Turkish forces in 1999 and sentenced to death for forming armed gangs under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment as the death penalty was abolished in Turkey in 2004.
“Ocalan stressed the importance of media's constructive stance which has to be taken considering that we have been entering a very historic process," the HDP statement said.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
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