 leader Abdullah Öcalan for about a year prior to his February 27 call for the PKK to disband, Remzi Kartal, co-chair of the PKK-affiliated Kongra-Gel organization, claimed in an interview with BBC’s Turkish service published on Monday.){kind=link}
Turkish officials had been in talks with jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan for about a year prior to his February 27 call for the PKK to disband, Remzi Kartal, co-chair of the PKK-affiliated Kongra-Gel organization, claimed in an interview with BBC’s Turkish service published on Monday.
The process that led up to Öcalan’s call began in October for many, as that is when Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a key ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, made remarks urging Öcalan to address the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) parliamentary group and call for the PKK to disband.
Bahçeli’s statement was unexpected given his party’s historically hardline nationalist and anti-PKK stance. However, individuals familiar with the talks, including Kartal and Zübeyir Aydar, another senior PKK figure in exile who spoke to Medya TV before Kartal’s interview, have said negotiations between Öcalan and the Turkish state had been ongoing for some time before Bahçeli’s public remarks.
According to them, the three visits by a DEM Party delegation to Öcalan on İmralı Island merely served to finalize the already-negotiated and agreed-upon principles.
Kartal said discussions between state representatives and Öcalan took place on İmralı Island, where the PKK leader has been imprisoned since 1999, laying the groundwork for his unprecedented call for the militant group to lay down its arms and disband. According to Kartal, all aspects of the process were meticulously negotiated before Öcalan publicly issued his statement.
“Everything was done with the joint consensus of Öcalan and the state officials,” Kartal said, underlining that Öcalan’s decision was not spontaneous but rather a result of a prolonged negotiation. He also noted that Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel had known about these talks.
Kartal further claimed that Öcalan’s call to disarm was directed not only at the PKK but also at the Turkish government, implying that Ankara must take reciprocal steps. He said the first and most urgent expectation from the government was to improve Öcalan’s prison conditions and eventually grant him his freedom.
The PKK declared a ceasefire shortly after Öcalan’s call, stating that its forces would not engage in armed action unless attacked. However, Erdoğan responded by reaffirming Turkey’s stance against the group. Speaking at an iftar dinner in İstanbul on Saturday, Erdoğan warned that military operations against the PKK would continue unless the group followed through on its commitment to disband.
“If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay or deceive, we will continue our ongoing operations until we eliminate the last terrorist,” Erdoğan said. He added that Turkey remains prepared to engage in talks but would not hesitate to use force if necessary.
Kartal also addressed speculation about whether Öcalan’s call extended to the PKK’s affiliates in Syria and Iran, particularly the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK). He clarified that Öcalan’s statement was specifically directed at the PKK and its armed wings, the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) and YJA Star, but did not include the YPG or PJAK.
The Turkish government has insisted that all PKK-linked groups, including the YPG and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), must also lay down their arms. Ankara considers these organizations extensions of the PKK, though the United States has partnered with the SDF in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria.
Kartal dismissed reports of separate negotiations between Turkish officials and PKK leaders outside İmralı, calling them “false.” He asserted that “the main negotiation is on İmralı,” reinforcing that the process remains centered on Öcalan.
Meanwhile, speculation is growing over the potential release of Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), who has been imprisoned since 2016 on terrorism-related charges. Reports indicate that Erdoğan recently permitted Demirtaş to travel from his prison in Edirne to İstanbul to visit his wife during surgery. Additionally, Bahçeli reportedly made a phone call to Demirtaş to wish his wife a speedy recovery and to thank him for supporting the peace process.
These conciliatory gestures from Erdoğan and Bahçeli have led to speculation that Turkey may be considering a broader shift in its Kurdish policy. Some analysts believe that the government could move toward releasing Demirtaş as a gesture of goodwill in alignment with European Court of Human Rights rulings calling for his release.
Kartal emphasized that the next steps in the peace process depended on the Turkish government’s actions. “If one thinks the PKK is finished, that would be wrong,” he said. “Yes, military activities may end, but the political struggle for democratic rights is just beginning.”