Hopes are high that Ocalan will soon publicly call on fighters from his Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to lay down their arms.

At his request, a delegation on Sunday travelled to northern Iraq where many PKK militants are based, spending several days talking to the Kurdish authorities there.

With the delegation was Keskin Bayindir, joint leader of the small pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP), who told AFP both Turks and Kurds want a "peaceful" resolution to end decades of violence that has left more than 40,000 dead.

Why did you visit Iraqi Kurdistan?

"In order to move forward, Ocalan sees it as essential to understand how the Kurdish actors think so we went to meet officials from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). They expressed full support for a democratic and peaceful solution to the Kurdish question and said they would mobilise all their resources to that end.

"In the coming days, we will request a new meeting with Ocalan to tell him about our discussions in Iraqi Kurdistan.

"Kurdish society wants to see all its actors involved in the process. It wants to see the Kurdish issue taken out of the context of violence and war, despite the difficulties with the arrests, mayors (from the pro-Kurdish DEM party in southeastern Turkey, ed.) being removed from office and the ongoing fighting in Rojava," he said, using the name Syrian Kurds have given to the autonomous area they administer.

"The Kurds have a unified stance in favour of a democratic and peaceful solution."

Will the ongoing arrests hurt the process?

"Seeing the government resort to its old ways of repression and violence raises serious concerns. Without second-guessing what the government will do in the near future, such actions do not help the process.

"But despite their efforts to spoil the mood, the Kurds and everyone else in society who wants democracy, freedom and peace is trying to keep a constructive attitude."

What do you expect Ocalan to do, and when?

"His message should come before long. According to the Imrali delegation, it will be about his plan for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question," he said referring to the lawmakers who met Ocalan on the Imrali prison island.

"Without knowing the exact content, it will be about taking the Kurdish issue out of the realm of war and violence and opening talks on the basis of democracy, law and freedom.

"It's not so difficult to leave violence behind. All the state has to do is abandon its almost 100-year-old policy (of repression) and open talks about a solution to the conflict in the context of the law and of democracy. There is still a strong desire for that within Turkish public opinion."