Turkey Moves Abdullah Ocalan to Newly Built Section of Imrali Prison Amid Stalled Peace Talks

Turkey has moved Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, to a newly built section of the prison on Imrali island. Mithat Sancar, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, confirmed the transfer in an interview with Medya Haber TV on Saturday. He provided no further details on the new accommodations.

Ocalan has been held on Imrali in the Marmara Sea since his capture in 1999. Improving his prison conditions has been a long-standing Kurdish demand in efforts to end the 42-year conflict. Sancar said the peace process has been on pause for the last two months. He stated that the relocation necessitates an acceleration of the process rather than further delay.

Sancar is part of a DEM Party delegation that has visited Ocalan since the PKK leader called on the group to disband and disarm in February 2025. The Turkish parliament passed a framework law in summer 2026 that regulates disarmament procedures and dialogue. Some PKK fighters have carried out symbolic steps, including the burning of weapons. Visits to Ocalan have been interrupted at times, and the delegation has warned that halted access weakens trust.

Sancar did not explicitly confirm that the new section offers better conditions, though his remarks suggested an improvement. Turkish authorities have not issued a public statement on the transfer. The island prison is isolated, and access has historically been tightly controlled. Ocalan remains an influential figure among many Kurds, and parties involved in the process treat his role as central to any further steps toward disarmament and political settlement.

The conflict between the PKK and Turkish forces has lasted more than four decades. Periodic ceasefires and talks have collapsed before. The current round began after Ocalan's 2025 call for the PKK to lay down arms. Progress has been uneven, with periods of reduced violence followed by pauses in political steps. Sancar's statement places the prison move in that context and frames it as a signal that should be matched by faster governmental action.

DEM Party officials have previously argued that sustained contact with Ocalan is required to maintain momentum. The two-month pause Sancar described covers the period before the reported transfer. No public timeline for resumed high-level talks has been released by either side. The framework law provides a legal structure for disarmament, but implementation details and verification mechanisms remain under discussion.

Imrali has held Ocalan in restrictive conditions for most of the past 27 years. Kurdish political groups have repeatedly listed improved detention conditions among their demands. The move to a newly built section is the first publicly confirmed change of that kind in the current process. Whether it includes expanded access, different living quarters or other adjustments is not stated in Sancar's remarks.

The transfer occurs while the broader process is described as stalled. Sancar urged acceleration and said the relocation itself creates an obligation to move forward. Turkish officials have not responded publicly to the statement as of Sunday. The outcome will depend on whether the prison change is followed by concrete steps on visits, legal frameworks or confidence-building measures that both sides have previously identified as necessary.