Erdogan tacitly supports ally's proposal for leniency toward imprisoned Kurdish militant leader

ANKARA -- ANKARA (AP) —

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seemed to give his implicit support on Tuesday for an unprecedented proposal by his nationalist ally that could lead to leniency for Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

In remarks made during a ceremony marking the 101st anniversary of the Turkish Republic in Ankara, Erdogan called for an open-minded approach to recent comments by Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli, who suggested last week that Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounces violence and disbands the PKK. It was Erdogan’s first response to Bahceli’s surprise statement.

Ocalan was convicted on charges of treason and has been serving a life term on a prison island off Istanbul since 1999. The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous state in Turkey’s southeast since 1984, and the violence has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

“We believe that it would be more beneficial to evaluate the approaches recently put forward under the leadership of our People’s Alliance partner (Bahceli) without prejudices,” Erdogan said.

Turkey was at a point where it needed to “demonstrate a determined will and solve the problems, not ignore them,” Erdogan said.

Bahceli, who has traditionally maintained a hardline stance against the PKK, surprised many last week by suggesting that Ocalan could be released from isolation and even allowed to address Parliament if he dissolves the PKK.

Ocalan said in a message conveyed by his nephew last week that he was ready to work for peace.

Eyes were on Erdogan this week after an attack on a Turkish defense firm in Ankara that killed at least five people and was claimed by the military wing of the PKK.

Turkey blamed the attack on the PKK and immediately launched airstrikes on locations and facilities suspected to be used by the militant group in northern Iraq or by its affiliates in northern Syria.

The PKK’s military wing, the People’s Defense Center, said, however, that the attack was not related to the latest “political agenda,” insisting it was planned long before.

Erdogan’s endorsement of Bahçeli’s proposal comes at a time of signs that a new peace process is starting with the aim of ending the four-decade-long conflict between Turkey's military and the PKK.

The conflict created deep rooted fault lines in Turkish society and many pro-Kurdish politicians and dissidents were arrested as result of crackdowns throughout the years.

Erdogan said a new political approach was needed due to challenges in the Middle East.

“For this, it is imperative that we, as a country and a nation, quickly solve the political, social and economic problems in front of us” Erdogan added.