ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – There will be "major developments within ten days" in the peace process in Turkey, pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party MP Mehmet Kamac told The New Region on Wednesday.

Turkey’s peace process hit a road bump upon the passing of DEM Party MP and Imrali delegate Sirri Sureyya Onder at the age of 62 on Saturday, with the late MP having been rushed to the hospital more than two weeks before his death due to a heart attack.

“Out of respect for… [Onder], we do not deem it appropriate to talk about a replacement for him [in the Imrali delegation] yet,” he added.

Onder, along with DEM Party MP Pervin Buldan, led a delegation that visited the Imrali prison island multiple times in hopes of brokering a permanent peace agreement between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state after decades of conflict, after an October proposal by Devlet Bahceli, a prominent Turkish politician and party leader.

"As Onder's friends, we are working towards that goal of Onder. There will be major developments within 10 days, in any case, the [Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)] congress must be held with the presence of Ocalan, this is not a condition, but it is what needs to be done," Kamac detailed.

The process saw major developments over the course of a few months, culminating in an address by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been held in a prison on Imrali Island since the late 1990s, which called on the PKK to lay down arms and dissolve themselves.

The DEM Party had previously made a request to Turkey’s Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc to lift solitary confinement on the jailed PKK leader to enable a more inclusive role for Ocalan in the political discourse regarding the peace process.

Despite the justice ministry not having returned to the DEM Party formally as of the time of writing this article, The New Region understands that there are positive developments towards fulfilling the pro-Kurdish party’s requests.

The recent developments in the Turkish political scene in regard to the PKK serve as a fresh breath of air to millions in Turkey—Turks and Kurds alike—who are now once again looking ahead with renewed hope that an enduring solution will be found to permanently resolve a bloody conflict that has spanned decades and claimed tens of thousands of lives.