The terror-free Türkiye initiative launched by a government ally is expected to enter a new phase as a politician said on Tuesday that Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the PKK terrorist group, will soon call the group to lay down arms.
Tuncer Bakırhan, co-chair the PKK-linked Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), told a parliamentary group meeting of his party that Öcalan was preparing for his “historic call” in the coming days. He ruled out a date for the call as the media reports speculated that it may be held on Feb. 15, the date he was captured abroad and brought to Türkiye years ago.
“(Öcalan) is preparing for a historic call for a permanent solution to the Kurdish question and for a democratic Türkiye,” Bakırhan said. The DEM Party refers to the PKK’s campaign of violence as simply a fight for the rights of the Kurdish people that has been exploited by the PKK. The government, which endorsed the initiative, refuses to term it as such and has repeatedly urged people of Kurdish descent to distance themselves from the propaganda of the terrorist group.
“We support this call and urge the government to cement the ground for this call to accomplish what it sets out to do and to play its role in this historical solution,” Bakırhan said.
Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan, two DEM Party lawmakers, acted as intermediaries between political parties, the government and Öcalan, conveying the PKK leader’s messages to the public.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, an ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) led People’s Alliance, has launched the terror-free initiative last year.
Bahçeli, a veteran politician who long advocated for more pressure on the PKK through military means, signaled the new initiative when he unexpectedly shook hands with lawmakers from the DEM Party last October during the start of a new legislative term at Parliament. Until then, Bahçeli was a staunch opponent of the DEM Party’s alignment with the PKK. Initially interpreted as a simple act of courtesy, Bahçeli’s handshake took on a new significance on Oct. 22 when he called on Öcalan, who is incarcerated in a prison on an island in the Marmara Sea, to dissolve the terrorist group. One day later, Ömer Öcalan, a nephew of the PKK ringleader and a lawmaker for the DEM Party, announced he visited the latter, in a first visit to Öcalan in 43 months. Ömer Öcalan said his uncle told him that he could bring the “current process” to “a legal and political platform from a platform of conflict.”
On Oct. 30, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his full support of Bahçeli’s initiative, praising the MHP leader for his brave, smart moves. On Nov. 5, Bahçeli took his call one step further and said in a speech that Öcalan should benefit from a conditional, temporary release if he made a speech at the parliamentary group meeting of the DEM Party and openly called for the PKK to lay down arms and cease any terrorist activity.
After Ömer Öcalan’s visit, the Justice Ministry authorized another visit to Abdullah Öcalan by Buldan and Önder in late December. According to the first statement by the party after this visit, Abdullah Öcalan told Buldan and Önder that he was ready to contribute to the initiative.
"Reinforcing Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood is a historic responsibility and is a matter of importance and emergency for all peoples," Abdullah Öcalan said in his statements quoted by the DEM Party.
The PKK terrorist group, which has killed thousands since it launched its first terror attacks in the 1980s, claims to fight for Kurdish self-rule and brainwashes the Kurdish population concentrated in southeastern Türkiye to draw recruits. Abdullah Öcalan said it was essential for all political circles in Türkiye to take the initiative without being confined to "narrow calculations," to "act constructively" 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.'"
"Incidents in Gaza and Syria demonstrated that the solution to this problem that is being aggravated by external intervention cannot be delayed any longer. The opposition's contributions and suggestions are valuable to achieve success in this solution," Öcalan said.
"I have the capability and resolve to contribute positively to this new paradigm empowered by Mr. Bahçeli and Mr. Erdoğan. My approach will be shared with the state and political circles. I am ready to take the positive step and make the call. Our efforts will advance the country to the level it deserves and will be a guideline for a democratic transformation. It is a time of peace, democracy and brotherhood for Türkiye and the region," Öcalan added.
