Turkey's Kurdish Peace Process: Contacts Continue Between Ankara, Kandil, and İmralı

Despite widespread speculation that Turkey's Democratic Society Process has been "frozen" or "ended," contacts between the parties continue at both Kandil and İmralı, according to NuMedya24 journalist Tuncay Doğan. The negotiations have now moved beyond the question of disarmament to address the fundamental issue of the Kurds' future political status in Turkey.

A Turkish state delegation is conducting discussions in Kandil, the PKK's mountainous stronghold, while high-level political contacts also continue with imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan at İmralı prison, Doğan reports. These revelations emerged from two key media reports published within days of each other in mid-May 2026.

According to Doğan's analysis, the first indication came from Dr. Hayri Hazargöl's reporting in Yeni Yaşam newspaper on May 13, which revealed that contacts between the state and Kandil representatives included not just indirect communication but face-to-face meetings. This claim was effectively confirmed two days later when Yücel Kayaoğlu reported in Türkiye newspaper that Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MİT) had established contact with Kandil, with a roadmap expected to emerge within 10 days.

Competing Visions for the Process

The state has requested that the Kurdish movement's leadership in Kandil prepare a roadmap proposal, Doğan notes. Ankara's approach envisions progress through administrative arrangements, legal changes, and presidential decrees, with different legal procedures planned for armed cadres depending on their location.

However, Kandil has set a critical condition: "Öcalan must manage the process under free conditions". According to Doğan, Kurdish sources indicate that any roadmap should be discussed with Öcalan at İmralı, and the necessary legal and political framework must be established for him to direct negotiations freely. The Kurdish side insists that Öcalan's role be formalized as "chief negotiator" with the ability to conduct the process under "free working conditions".

Doğan highlights that the fundamental disagreement centers on whether Abdullah Öcalan will be treated merely as a consulted actor on technical matters, or recognized as the political interlocutor and manager of the process, as the Kurdish side demands. This question reflects the broader tension between a security-focused approach and one that addresses the root causes of the Kurdish issue with a comprehensive political solution.

The last meeting of the DEM Party's İmralı delegation with Öcalan occurred on March 27, which both parties characterized as a "critical threshold" that would determine the process's trajectory, according to Doğan. While interpretations differ on whether the process has stalled, the evidence suggests negotiations continue despite significant obstacles, with the coming period likely to determine whether Turkey can move beyond a security-centered framework toward genuine political recognition of Kurdish realities.