ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan is set to make his “historic call” on Friday, widely believed to call for the lay down of arms by the PKK, a source told The New Region.

The People’s Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party delegation is set to visit Imrali prison on Thursday for a third round of talks with Ocalan, this time including DEM Party Co-leaders Tuncer Bakirhan and Tulay Hatimogullari, a source from the party told The New Region.

The source added that Ocalan is set to make his “historic call” a day later, addressing the Kurdish issue and potentially putting an end to the four-decade-long conflict between Turkey and the PKK.

Bakirhan on Wednesday described Ocalan's call as one that "will break the mold of the state."

The New Region understands that the call will be in written format, set to be read by either Ocalan’s lawyer or an Imrali delegation member in the presence of all DEM Party MPs in a press conference in Ankara.

Ocalan’s call and the delegation’s third visit to the Imrali prison come less than two weeks after the Imrali delegation visited the Kurdistan Region earlier in February to seek Kurdish officials' suggestions and advice on the matter to be taken back to the jailed PKK chief.

A proposal to allow Ocalan to appear before the legislature and declare the dissolution of the PKK was put forward in October by Devlet Bahceli, head of the far-right Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The initiative was immediately endorsed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish political landscape. 

The PKK is an armed group that has fought for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey for decades. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara.

Bahceli’s initiative led to DEM Party MPs Pervin Buldan and Sirri Sureyya Onder being granted the rare permission to meet with Ocalan at Imrali prison in December amid a shift in Ankara’s stance of prohibiting contact with the PKK founder.

Millions across Turkey – Turks and Kurds, are looking ahead with renewed hope that a perpetual solution will be found to permanently resolve the conflict that has spanned decades and claimed tens of thousands of lives.