A long-awaited call by Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the PKK terrorist group, may be delayed further. Öcalan is expected to urge the group to lay down arms.
On Wednesday, he received two lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in the island prison where he is held in the Marmara Sea for the second visit in two months.
The DEM Party on Thursday released a brief statement regarding a meeting between Öcalan and lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan and said “the process was still underway” in reference to the initiative that was launched by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli last year.
“Our delegation informed Mr. Öcalan about their talks,” the DEM Party said, referring to recent meetings between the delegation and representatives of political parties, including the MHP.
“Öcalan still continues work on the process and necessary statements will be made to the public after preparations are concluded,” the statement that came after a meeting that lasted some four hours between the delegation and Öcalan.
“This process will enable us to live free and together. With this hope, we expect all segments of society to give a valuable contribution to the process,” the statement concluded.
Bahçeli’s historic call on Oct. 22, 2024, is viewed as the first step of the new initiative that gained its name through subsequent statements of Bahçeli and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who endorsed the plan. His call involves removing Öcalan from solitary confinement at the Imralı Island prison, at least temporarily. The DEM Party applied for the first visit to Öcalan on Nov. 26.
The PKK has waged a terror campaign against Türkiye since 1984, initially to establish a so-called Kurdish state in the southeast of the country. It has spread beyond Türkiye’s borders into Iraq and Syria and has killed tens of thousands of people. The PKK is proscribed to be a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Earlier on Thursday, media reports claimed that Öcalan himself would release a statement instead of the DEM Party and would announce that he wanted to “serve peace.”
“Reinforcing the Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood is a historic responsibility and is a matter of importance and emergency for all peoples,” Öcalan said in his first statements quoted by the DEM Party after the December visit. Öcalan said it was essential for all political circles in Türkiye to take the initiative without being confined to “narrow calculations,” “act constructive” and “provide a positive contribution” for this new process to succeed. Öcalan said the Parliament he was urged to come to would be “undoubtedly one of the most important grounds for ‘this contribution.'”
Last week, President Erdoğan said that the terror-free initiative was close to its ultimate stage. Addressing supporters of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the southern province of Mersin, Erdoğan said they favored a peaceful solution to the terrorism issue.
“Developments since our People’s Alliance ally Mr. Bahçeli brought the issue to the spotlight are heading toward a conclusion. If the separatist group heeds the call of its leader, if their political extension fulfills its mission (for terror-free Türkiye initiative), the entire Türkiye will win. If they reject the call and their political extension drags its feet, we are capable of resolving this matter through operations,” Erdoğan said, pointing out past successful counterterrorism operations against the PKK.
“Our choice is resolving this matter through a calm, sincere manner and permanently,” he said, adding that terrorism wasted 40 years in the country, claimed tens of thousands of lives and led to losses of hundreds of billions of dollars.
“Separatist terrorism will be defeated, one way or another. Certainly, the memory of our martyrs is above everything. The current works are conducted in a way not to defile memories of martyrs,” he said, referring to thousands of civilians and security officers killed by terrorists.