 said Tuesday that the group's disbanding and laying down of arms depend on the active participation of its jailed founder, Abdullah Öcalan, in a congress to finalize the move.){kind=link}
A senior figure in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said Tuesday that the group’s disbanding and laying down of arms depend on the active participation of its jailed founder, Abdullah Öcalan, in a congress to finalize the move.
Mustafa Karasu, a deputy chairman of the PKK and a member of its executive council under the KCK umbrella group, made the comments in a televised interview with the pro-Kurdish Medya Haber TV, warning that Turkey’s failure to facilitate Öcalan’s involvement risks stalling the historic dissolution process initiated earlier this year.
“This process is crucial for the future of Turkey and the Middle East,” Karasu said. “It is not possible for the PKK to decide on disbanding if Öcalan is not part of the congress.”
The interview comes amid ongoing talks between Turkish officials and representatives from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), following Öcalan’s February 27 public call for the PKK to lay down arms and to transition the Kurdish movement from an armed struggle to a legal and political platform.
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that has claimed over 40,000 lives. Öcalan, the group’s founding leader, has been imprisoned on İmralı Island since 1999. For much of the last decade, he has been held in near-total isolation apart from several inmates on the island, with long intervals of no access to lawyers or family members.
In recent months, however, the Turkish government has allowed delegations from the DEM Party to visit Öcalan in prison, signaling a tentative opening to dialogue. Karasu said those visits were welcomed but insufficient.
“If this government is serious, then it must ensure the legal and political environment for Öcalan to lead this process,” he said, adding that “the isolation imposed on him must be lifted immediately.”
Karasu asserted that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his far-right ally, Devlet Bahçeli, had earlier agreed in principle to enable Öcalan’s role in disbanding the PKK. “They said, ‘Let him come to parliament and speak. If he announces an end to armed struggle, the Right to Hope law can be activated.’ This was their commitment,” he claimed.
The “Right to Hope” is a legal principle that allows prisoners sentenced to life, under certain conditions to be considered for parole after a specified period. Karasu suggested this may have been part of a broader understanding between Öcalan and the state, though no official confirmation of such a deal has been made.
According to Karasu, the DEM Party, the main pro-Kurdish party in Turkey, has put forward concrete demands during recent meetings with Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç. These include improving Öcalan’s prison conditions, ending the policy of replacing elected Kurdish mayors with government-appointed trustees and amending Turkey’s broad counterterrorism laws.
However, Karasu voiced skepticism about the government’s intentions, citing a delay of more than 40 days between Öcalan’s February 27 call to lay down arms and the April 21 prison visit by a delegation to Imralı. “This delay reveals the government’s hesitation and lack of capability,” he said.
Karasu added that although the PKK’s military wing, the HPG, announced a unilateral ceasefire and committed to upholding Öcalan’s call, “none of this will be enough unless the conditions are created for a proper congress.”
Despite the PKK’s ceasefire, Turkish military operations have continued in northern Iraq, where the group maintains bases.
Airstrikes and cross-border raids have been carried out almost daily, with Turkish officials insisting that counterterrorism operations will not be paused until the PKK is fully dismantled.
Karasu and other Kurdish leaders have criticized these ongoing attacks as undermining trust and sending contradictory signals at a time when peace efforts are being discussed.
The Turkish Defense Ministry has argued that operations target “active threats” and that a complete ceasefire can only follow a verified and unconditional surrender of the PKK militants.
“The PKK will not hold a congress and cannot declare a decision to lay down arms unless Öcalan is involved,” Karasu stated. “Even if such a congress is convened, if Öcalan is not part of it in some form, no valid decision will be taken.”
Karasu acknowledged that Öcalan may not be physically present at such a congress but argued that modern communication technologies allow for various forms of participation.
“This congress would not last just a day or two. It requires preparation and leadership,” he said. “Öcalan must be engaged actively and effectively. Without that, the process cannot move forward.”
The remarks underline the delicate balance facing the Turkish government, which has long resisted formal negotiations with the PKK while simultaneously signaling interest in ending the conflict.
Earlier in April, President Erdoğan met with a DEM Party delegation at the presidential palace —the first such meeting in nearly a decade. Observers hailed the meeting as a major step, but no follow-up announcements have been made.
Karasu said that unless parliament becomes directly involved in crafting the legal and political basis for peace, the process cannot proceed.
“This cannot be handled by a minister or through informal talks,” he said. “This is a national issue. It must be brought before the parliament.”
He added that Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has already expressed support for bringing the issue to the legislature. “If the CHP and others say, ‘Let’s talk about this in parliament,’ then the government must do it,” he said.
Karasu also warned that ongoing arrests and crackdowns, including the recent arrest of the mayor of İstanbul and other opposition figures, undermine the credibility of the process. “People naturally question how a peace process can move forward while repression continues,” he said.
He expressed concern about the lack of concrete outcomes from meetings held so far, saying the Justice Ministry has yet to act on the demands presented. “There is no practical result. It’s just meetings,” he said.
Still, Karasu noted that the DEM Party and Kurdish society at large continue to support the process. “There’s no obstacle from our side. Öcalan has spoken. The organization has responded. The people support this. The ball is in the government’s court,” he said.
Karasu emphasized that the international environment is also favorable. “Even actors from Germany to the United States support a peaceful resolution. Conditions are right both internally and externally,” he said.
The PKK emerged in the late 1970s as a Marxist-Leninist organization advocating for Kurdish autonomy. After decades of armed conflict, a previous peace process collapsed in 2015 amid mutual accusations of bad faith. Since then, conflict has resumed in Turkey’s southeast and across the Iraqi border, where the PKK maintains bases.
The current process, while fragile, marks the most serious opening for a negotiated settlement in years. Yet Karasu made clear the road to peace runs through Öcalan.
“If this government does not allow Öcalan to lead the process he started, then they are not serious about peace,” he said. “That is what the public must understand.”