ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Turkish peace process committee on Monday said “positive outcomes” had been reached during their first meeting with jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan on Imrali Island.

On Friday, the Turkish parliamentary committee tasked with drafting a legal framework for the Ankara-PKK peace process voted by an absolute majority to visit Ocalan on the secluded prison island. 

Following Monday’s visit to Imrali, the parliament's presidency said “positive results were obtained” and that there had been “positive advancement of the process,” according to the statement.

“In this regard, following the Peace and Democratic Society Call made on February 27, detailed statements were taken within the scope of the statements that the organization should dissolve itself and lay down its arms,” it added, referring to the historic call by Ocalan urging his PKK compatriots to lay down their arms and pursue change through peaceful means.

The statement further noted that that the lawmakers have convened 18 meetings related to the peace process since August.

The committee cited "advancing the process of social integration, strengthening brotherhood, and promoting a regional perspective" as key topics of the seminal dialogue, according to Turkish state media.

Implementation of the March 10 agreement in Syria was another topic of the meeting. 

On March 10, Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed an agreement that would see the Kurdish-led forces and institutions in northeast Syria (Rojava) integrate into the state apparatus under the auspices of Damascus.

In early October, the leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli urged the PKK to call on Kurdish forces in Rojava to lay down arms, suggesting that the Turkish parliament should hold direct talks with Ocalan on the matter amid clashes in Rojava. 

Despite the advancement of the peace process and the halting of the PKK's four-decade-long campaign against the Turkish state, many observers have remained skeptical of the next steps, citing legal ambiguities and a lack of clarity.

Ocalan and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) have repeatedly expressed concern over the lack of concrete measures to establish a political framework ensuring the success of the peace process.

The DEM Party has been the main mediator between the PKK and the Turkish state in the recent peace process.

In July, dozens of PKK fighters burned their weapons in a symbolic disarmament ceremony in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province, and earlier this month the group announced it will completely withdraw from Turkish soil.