Erdogan says PKK leader’s call to disband a ‘historic opportunity’

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, described Abdullah Ocalan’s request for the disbanding and disarming of his outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a “historic opportunity,” as senior members of the president’s party demanded the dissolution of PKK affiliates in Iraq and Syria.

A day after the jailed PKK founder’s statement, Erdogan said on Friday, “We have a historic opportunity to advance toward the goal of destroying the wall of terror.”

Ocalan demanded that the PKK convene a congress and decide whether to put down arms and dissolve itself in a momentous message from prison. The pro-Kurdish DEM Party officials in Turkiye relayed the message as part of a brand-new initiative to put an end to a tens of thousands of lives-stricken conflict.

Ankara and its Western allies have been fighting the Turkish state for decades, and the PKK is one of them.

Ocalan’s request has not yet been answered by the PKK’s leadership, who is based in northern Iraq.

Erdogan vowed to “keep a close watch” to ensure that the negotiations to end the rebellion were “brought to a successful conclusion,” citing Turkiye’s caution against any “provocations.”

The political space in a democracy will naturally grow, according to Erdogan, “when the pressure of terrorism and arms is eliminated.”

Omer Celik, the AK Party’s representative, earlier on Friday said that all organizations connected to the PKK, including those that are not Turkiye, should follow the instructions.

In reference to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units and its political wing, Celik said, “All extensions of the terrorist organization must dissolve themselves, regardless of whether they are called PKK, YPG, or PYD.”

“We mean the organization’s complete liquidation along with its members in Iraq and Syria.”

Ball is in the court of the government.

Ocalan’s call for disarmament was seen as an opportunity to create peace and a prerequisite for establishing orderly and constructive relations in the region, according to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which includes the YPG.

Ocalan’s call, according to Mazloum Abdi, the SDF’s commander, had “no connection to our forces.”

The DEM Party, in contrast, wants Erdogan’s administration to take immediate steps toward democracy.

“The government should now assume accountability and begin democratizing.” As citizens of this nation, our demand is, according to Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit, deputy leader of the DEM Party’s parliamentary group.

She said, “The government’s court is now where the ball is.” How will we be able to coexist and create our future if there is no democracy and the government continues to disregard our fundamental freedoms?

Since Erdogan’s AK Party’s victory in 2002, Turkiye has lifted restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language. Some critics claim that Turkiye’s state has not done enough to grant Kurds more rights.

Devlet Bahceli, Erdogan’s coalition partner, started the new effort to bring about peace between the PKK and the Turkish state in October. If his organization doesn’t use violence and disbands, the far-right politician suggested Ocalan could be given parole.

Ocalan, 75, was found guilty of treason in 1999 and has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali off Istanbul. He continues to exert significant influence over the PKK, which he founded in 1978 despite his imprisonment.

Source: Aljazeera