The move comes six months after the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkey, drawing a line under four decades of violence that had claimed some 50,000 lives on both sides.

Ankara began indirect talks with the PKK late last year, with Ocalan in February urging his militants to lay down their weapons and embrace democratic means to advance the Kurdish cause.

The parliamentary commission, which began working in August and is due to wrap up its work by the year's end, was formed to lay the groundwork for the peace process and prepare a legal framework for the political integration of the PKK and its fighters.

The commission will meet on Friday at 2:00 pm (1100 GMT) "to evaluate the work it has carried out to date and to discuss the work it will carry out in the future process, including the issue of going to the Imrali high security prison," Turkey's parliament said late Tuesday on X.

Ocalan, 76, has led the peace process from his cell on Imrali island near Istanbul, where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999.

Last month, a senior PKK militant said it was crucial that lawmakers from the 51-member cross-party commission meet Ocalan in person.

"I wholeheartedly believe the commission will make the most accurate and correct decision for Turkey, its secure future, and the unity and solidarity of our nation," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Friday's meeting, describing its work as "extremely valuable".

Speaking on Tuesday, commission member Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish DEM party, said: "The question of going to Imrali will be the sole item on the agenda" on Friday, confirming "there will be a vote" on the matter.

Earlier this week, close Erdogan ally Devlet Bahceli -- who initiated the peace efforts last year and who heads Turkey's nationalist MHP party -- urged the commission to stop dragging its feet.

"The debate about going to Imrali must end. There is no point in dragging our feet about going to Imrali," he said on Tuesday.

"If no one else is willing to go... I won't hesitate to go to Imral nor shy away from meeting face-to-face" with Ocalan, he said on Tuesday.

In remarks that appeared to back Bahceli's stance, Erdogan singled out his contribution to the peace efforts, saying: "Mr Bahceli has made a unique contribution to the process reaching this point with his groundbreaking statements from the first day."

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