A delegation from the main pro-Kurdish DEM party visited Ocalan twice over the past weeks, and then held talks with Turkey's main parliamentary factions before travelling to Iraq last weekend.

The delegation in Iraq, which included two DEM lawmakers as well as Keskin Bayindir from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) with two seats in the Turkish parliament, met with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in Arbil.

"Mr. Ocalan is working hard to find a process that could lead to a solution despite all the difficult conditions," Bayindir told reporters after the meeting.

"He is working to remove this issue from the field of war and conflict and to establish a democratic and legal process" to resolve the conflict, he added.

"This roadmap will also stop the crises in the Middle East," Bayindir said.

Although no timing has been set for presenting Ocalan's plan, Kurdish politicians are confident it will be soon, and no later than Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, in March.

Barzani said he "hopes the PKK adopts a strategic vision towards the process," adding that today's opportunity "must not be missed."

"Experience has proven that war and weapons do not solve any problem," Barzani said in a statement following the meeting.

He added he is prepared to offer "full assistance and support" to ensure the success of the peace process, which he described as "an important and historic opportunity."

The pro-Kurdish Turkish lawmakers conveyed a message Sunday from Ocalan to Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, a crucial powerbroker in Kurdish affairs.

Their delegation will also hold talks in the city Sulaymaniyah Tuesday with Kurdish officials including the autonomous region's deputy prime minister Qubad Talabani.

Militants from Ocalan's PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, operate in Iraq's Kurdistan region, where Turkey also maintains military bases.

With peace efforts frozen for nearly a decade, Turkey's hardline nationalist MHP party unexpectedly offered an olive branch to Ocalan in October.

It urged him to renounce violence in exchange for a possible early release from Imrali island, where he has been serving a life sentence in solitary confinement since 1999.

Backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the call has renewed hopes of an end to a conflict that has killed tens of thousands.