Abdullah Öcalan, jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), is preparing to make a “historic call” in the coming days, the co-chairperson of Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party said on Tuesday amid ongoing peace discussions with him aimed at ending the 40-year-old conflict between the state and the PKK, the Artı Gerçek news website reported.
People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Co-chairperson Tuncay Bakırhan, who spoke at a party meeting, talked about Öcalan’s plans to soon make the “historic call” without elaborating on what the content would be.
“Everything is now in Erdoğan’s hands. … This is your chance to write history, Mr. Erdoğan,” he added, referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Erdoğan said last month that he was “cautiously optimistic,” praising “significant progress” in the negotiations.
When asked by reporters whether Öcalan would make his call on February 15, as claimed earlier by some media outlets since that day marks the 26th anniversary of his capture by Turkish intelligence, Bakırhan said it could be either on February 15 or later.
According to Turkish media, Öcalan may call for the dissolution of the PKK or a full withdrawal of its armed elements from Turkey.
The PKK has been waging a bloody war in Turkey’s southeast since 1984, with tens of thousands of people killed in the conflict.
While there has been no confirmation from the Turkish government, the possibility of a new peace initiative has been the subject of political debate in Ankara.
The process gained momentum after Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a key ally of Erdoğan, made an unexpected call for Öcalan to be allowed to address the DEM Party’s parliamentary group meeting and urge the PKK to disband.
Following Bahçeli’s move, backed by Erdoğan as a “historic opportunity,” a DEM Party delegation paid two visits to Öcalan in prison in late December and January as part of the talks. The delagation, in the meantime, held meetings with political parties to brief them on the peace talks.
Öcalan, who founded the PKK nearly half a century ago to fight for Kurdish rights, has been held in a high-security prison on İmralı Island since 1999.
After his first meeting with DEM Party lawmakers in December, Öcalan had said that a rapprochement between Turks and Kurds was a “historic responsibility” and that he was “determined” to participate in the Ankara-led reconciliation effort.
In his call, backed by Erdoğan as a “historic opportunity” to resolve the Kurdish issue, Bahçeli also suggested that if Öcalan takes this step, there could be legislative action to pave the way for his possible release.
Critics of the peace talks say the public is given little information about the discussions’ content. They question what concessions Turkey will offer to persuade the PKK to lay down its arms and what steps the government will take to improve the cultural, political and linguistic rights of the Kurds, who have been fighting for these rights for many years.
A recent survey by the İstanbul-based Spectrum House revealed that 58.5 percent of Turkish citizens disapprove of Bahçeli’s call to Öcalan.
In 2015 a peace attempt initiated by Ankara broke down, unleashing a wave of violence in the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeast.