 leader Abdullah Öcalan has accused Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of trying to create the illusion it has defeated the PKK, while stressing that Kurds still have political alternatives, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.){kind=link}
Jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan has accused Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of trying to create the illusion it has defeated the PKK, while stressing that Kurds still have political alternatives, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.
The remarks were conveyed by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) during a news conference in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Tuesday. The press briefing was attended by DEM Party Deputy Co-chair Tayip Temel, Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) Co-Spokesperson Meral Danış Beştaş and Diyarbakır lawmaker Cengiz Çandar.
Party officials relayed messages from Öcalan conveyed during their latest meeting with him, part of peace efforts between the Turkish government and the PKK aimed at ending a decades-long conflict that has killed about 40,000 people since the group launched its insurgency in 1984.
In July 30 PKK militants burned their weapons in northern Iraq, a symbolic first step after Öcalan earlier this year urged the group to lay down its arms and disband. The PKK announced in May it would comply, saying it has “completed [its] historic mission.”
There are now expectations that the Turkish government will reciprocate the PKK’s move with legal steps that will include protections for militants who lay down their arms and the meeting of demands from the country’s Kurds to expand their political and cultural rights.
The lack of concrete steps so far has prompted Öcalan to deliver his toughest message yet to the Turkish government since peace efforts resumed in October 2024, following a surprise call by far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Öcalan reportedly denounced what he described as the government’s “manipulative” approach and rejected “deceitful discourse.” “Kurds will no longer remain without status in this new century,” he was quoted as saying, stressing that Kurdish political actors have alternatives if no settlement is reached with the Turkish government.
At the news briefing the DEM Party listed its key demands as recognition of Kurdish language rights, stronger local governance, an end to government-appointed trustees replacing elected mayors, the provision of the “right to hope” for Öcalan that will make his release from prison possible and revision of Turkey’s sweeping counterterrorism legislation, which has been frequently used to prosecute Kurdish politicians due to its broad scope.
The “right to hope” refers to the assessment of whether a prisoner, based on good behavior, may be conditionally released after serving a portion of their sentence, as determined by law.
The DEM Party has also been calling on the government to allow Öcalan to be heard by a parliamentary commission established to advance the peace talks.
The commission, established in August, is tasked with advancing efforts to end the PKK’s armed campaign and promote legal and political reconciliation with the country’s Kurds.
Both Öcalan and the DEM Party stressed that without legal guarantees and institutional reforms, hopes for a durable peace and democratic solution to the Kurdish question risk fading once again.
Designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies, the PKK had originally fought for an independent Kurdish state in the southeast but later demanded only greater Kurdish rights and democratic reforms.
The renewed peace process was initiated when MHP leader Bahçeli publicly called on Öcalan to urge the militant group to lay down its arms. Öcalan responded in February with a message calling on the PKK to disarm and disband.
The DEM Party facilitated the talks between Öcalan and Ankara during the process by regularly visiting Öcalan in prison.