The Erbil Forum this year was marked by a focus on Türkiye and the process of achieving peace with the PKK, which will significantly influence Ankara’s ties with Iraq.
Organized by Rudaw Research Center in cooperation with international think tanks last week in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, the Erbil Forum was held under the theme “The future of the Middle East Amid Mounting Uncertainty.”
While Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al Sudani sent a video message, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, Parliament Speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani, KRG President Nechirvan Barzani and several other high-level officials attended the forum where regional developments, the new political era in Syria and Iraq’s Development Road Project were discussed among other topics.
The forum came amid Türkiye’s initiative to end PKK terrorism and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call on the terrorist group to lay down arms coincided with the second day of the program. The issue of resolving PKK terrorism has long been a straining point between Türkiye and Iraq as the terrorist group is based mainly in northern Iraq’s mountainous Qandil region. This has led Ankara to carry out operations in Iraqi territory to hinder cross-border terror attacks into Türkiye, leading to spats with Baghdad on sovereignty. Thus, ending PKK terrorist activity against Ankara will positively influence ties just as the two have started cooperating on several projects such as the development road, economic, water and other areas. Iraq’s Kurds have also played a role in the PKK peace process with busy contact between Türkiye and the KRG. Nechirvan Barzani met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during this process while KDP leader Masoud Barzani met with YPG leader Ferhat Abdi Şahin in late January.
Sessions of the Erbil Forum related to Türkiye were thus jam-packed and followed with great interest and curious questions from the audience.
Describing the process in Türkiye as “very serious,” Nechirvan Barzani said: “We do not intervene into Türkiye’s internal issues, but we look at how we can facilitate the process and play our part. Weapons do not solve anything.”
Reiterating that Erdoğan’s ally MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli launched the process, Barzani conveyed his get well soon wishes for the nationalist leader who has recently undergone some surgery.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) Salahaddin Bahaaddin, praising Türkiye’s move, said that the PKK’s Syrian wing “have to accept (Öcalan’s) message.”
Bahaaddin added that his party is also ready to help advance the process and said, “They (the YPG) have to understand what happened” and should not pose a threat to efforts to chart Syria’s future or the peace process in Türkiye.
The KIU leader also said that he emphasized during talks with Turkish officials that the Kurdish issue is separate from the problem of the PKK.
A day after Öcalan’s call, a special session including a former Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy and officials from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) and Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) was held under the theme “Peace Talks in Türkiye and the Future of the PKK Armed Conflict after Four Decades.”
The AK Party’s Abdurrahman Kurt, a former deputy and Kurdish Turkish politician from eastern Diyarbakır province, underlined he dedicated over two decades within the party to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, envisioning a Türkiye where people coexist harmoniously. He reminded that several groundbreaking steps were achieved during the AK Party period such as the opening of TRT Kurdi.
CHP former Deputy Chairperson Oğuz Kaan Salıcı for his part emphasized that “The Kurdish issue has to be cleansed from terrorism and keeping democratic political channels open to everyone has to be seen as an issue that surpasses reigns of governments.” Saying that the time to seek rights through weapons has ended, he continued: “The call to lay down arms and the PKK to dissolve itself is valuable. The Republic of Türkiye is a unitary state. Our party is against formulas such as federation or autonomy.”
“Türkiye has tried to disarm the PKK in nearly every governmental period but had not succeeded,” DEVA’s deputy President Mehmet Emin Ekmen said, indicating that he did not believe Erdoğan initiated the process for internal political gains upon discussions that the move was launched to seek another election gain for 2028.
Lastly, DEM’s Cengiz Çandar pointed out that Öcalan also called for legal regulations such as the legal status of PKK members and what is to happen to them. “Let us assume the PKK has dissolved itself. There are hundreds, even thousands of PKK members in these lands (Iraq).”
Owing to the special interest to the process in Ankara, the forum also held a separate session for Bülent Arınç, one of the founders of the AK Party and former deputy prime minister. He reiterated that the AK Party also previously did everything in their power to establish peace with the PKK but that “the terrorist group betrayed the government.”
Despite the high interest and numerous Turkish officials attending the forum, it has to be noted that Türkiye’s Irbil consul general did not attend, nor did even any junior diplomat. Any currently serving government official was also lacking as figures included in the program, such as the AK Party’s Galip Ensarioğlu and former Minister Mehdi Eker canceled their participation at the last minute.
Moreover, valuable findings from the Kurdish Barometer, which showed the latest tendencies on Kurdish popular culture, Kurdish language abilities, political tendencies, identity and religious affinity, were shared in another session.
“There was a reaction from Turkish officials regarding a Rudaw documentary on the 46th anniversary of the Maraş massacre,” a source told me. “The fact that it was broadcast on the 46th anniversary instead of figures such as 45 or 50 drew question marks and backlash,” the source added. The documentary, meanwhile, was removed from broadcast.
Despite the imperfections, the forum was significant in showing the importance attached to Türkiye in regional politics and the interest dedicated to the peace process with the PKK, which will have repercussions not only for Ankara but also neighboring countries such as Iraq, Syria and Iran. The positive statements and atmosphere clearly show that resolving the issue will open a new and constructive period for the region.