A Turkish politician recently made an interesting statement about the July 15 coup attempt: "There are secret Gülenists, or enemies of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, within the state that seek to victimize people en masse. They successfully transformed the fight against the coup into a fight against society. The coup remains a credible threat." The statement was made by none other than Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who leads the PKK's political wing best known for their fierce opposition to the president.Coming from Demirtaş, the claim that secret Gülenists remain operational would deserve some attention. But his real concern is not to warn the people about an imminent threat against democracy. Here's what he really wanted to say: "Both the PKK and the government must have understood that the Kurdish question cannot be resolved through military action. Guns must be silenced."The statement by Demirtaş, who traveled to Irbil last week to ask Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani for help with the Turks, might appear innocent at first sight. Unfortunately, he does not really mean what he says. Over the past year, the HDP leadership has not confronted the PKK to secure a cease-fire. Instead, Demirtaş and his colleagues kept silent about PKK attacks against civilians, only to serve as the terrorists' mouthpiece when the government responded with security operations.In early September, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is also publicly known as his nickname 'Apo', was visited by his brother at the İmralı prison for the first time in two years. His message to the public was as follows: "We did not terminate the previous process. We can solve this problem within six months. This is a kind war. Let the bloodshed and tears stop." Öcalan's words are appealing but ultimately baseless.In truth, the PKK leadership already made it clear that they would not obey Öcalan's orders by ignoring his call for disarmament. Furthermore, Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) Co-Chairman Cemil Bayık in November 2015 had openly challenged the organization's leader by stating that "the decision to withdraw from Turkey will be made by us, not Öcalan."A lot has changed over the past year though. At home, the Turkish security forces successfully cracked down on PKK networks and dealt a heavy blow to the organization, whose primary objective was to keep Turkey focused on the domestic front and ease the pressure on People's Protection Units (YPG) across the border. Walking out of negotiations with Turkey, the PKK leadership had disobeyed Öcalan's orders. A year later, things are slowly changing. PKK attacks on Turkish soil make it possible for Turkey to put pressure on the United States over the Obama administration's support for YPG, the PKK's Syrian franchise. To avoid further tensions with the Turks, U.S. officials desperately urge the terrorists to announce a cease-fire and focus on Syria. The PKK, in turn, wants to avoid looking like they were defeated by Turkey and strong-armed by the Americans by letting Öcalan wave the white flag.Under the circumstances, why did the Turkish authorities allow the PKK's imprisoned leader to send a message? According to a senior government official, the Turks "already know that Öcalan has no power over the PKK but want to cash in on his popularity among the HDP base." There is more: "When the PKK leadership wanted to use Öcalan, HDP politicians spread rumors about the PKK leader's health in order to secure a meeting. They sought to put more pressure on the authorities through hunger strikes. In response, we decided to deprive them of their trump card by giving the green light for a meeting. It was clear that Öcalan was going to call for a new round of talks. By letting him speak, we put pressure on the PKK leadership and proved rumors about Öcalan's health wrong."At this point, the PKK's imprisoned leader wants to get back in the game. Instead of spending the rest of his days behind bars, he would like to go down in history as the man who helped bring peace to Turkey. But the government isn't satisfied with Öcalan's current position.Had the PKK not sought territorial expansion in northern Syria to threaten Turkey's national security, the bar would have undoubtedly been lower. Without the cross-border threats, the Turks would have settled for the PKK's withdrawal. But it is impossible to make the same deal anymore since there is a serious risk that PKK militants, upon withdrawing from Turkey, will join YPG and attack Turkish targets again in the future. Accepting Öcalan's plan would not only help him get back in the game but also strengthen the YPG by allowing the U.S. to send them weapons and ammunition without resistance from Ankara. Turkey, in turn, would face even more serious terror attacks in the future. As such, the Turks want Öcalan to jump a few more hoops including brokering the PKK's disarmament and withdrawal from Turkey, respecting public order and accepting equal treatment before the law as everybody else. Moreover, Turkish authorities would like the PKK leader to secure the return of traditionally Arab and Turkmen parts of northern Syria to native communities, while preventing the creation of a Democratic Union Party (PYD)-controlled corridor south of the border. Keeping in mind that Öcalan cannot deliver such promises, he has no choice but to publicly acknowledge the PKK leadership's failure to follow his orders and urge his supporters to turn their back on the organization.Those who turn to Öcalan whenever they get into trouble must come to terms with the fact that Öcalan will not have a seat at the table until he meets Turkey's demands.