 "Syrian Kurds hold flags as they gather after Turkey's jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to lay down its arms on Thursday, a move that could end its 40-year conflict with Ankara and have far-reaching political and security consequences for the region, in Hasakah, Syria February 27, 2025. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman/File Photo")
After spending 26 years in Turkish prison, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan emerged as a central figure in a push to end Turkey’s four-decade conflict with PKK. Ankara’s latest peace initiative, backed by senior political figures, now hinges in large part on Ocalan’s authority over the PKK and his recent calls for the group to disarm and dissolve.
In July, the PKK symbolically burned weapons and last month announced it was withdrawing fighters from Turkey as part of the disarmament process. There is some way to complete the peace process after a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people.
Ocalan founded PKK in 1978, has been jailed since 1999 is reported to have urged both Kurdish militants and the Turkish state to commit “democratic and legal solution” to the Kurdish question.
The parliament speaker’s office said that during Monday’s talks at Imrali prison in the Marmara Sea, the parliamentarians took statements from Ocalan related to the PKK’s disbandment and Syrian Kurdish forces, which Turkey regards as part of the PKK.
Achieving peace would be a major achievement for President Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan, 71, has remained largely in the background as peace moves progress with the PKK, which is deemed a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies after its attacks on both civilian and military targets.
Erdogan, partly motivated by hopes of winning Kurdish support if he calls or seeks constitutional changes to extend his rule beyond his scheduled term limit in 2028.
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View AllOcalan urged PKK to dissolve
In a transcript of the video call obtained by Reuters from a source close to the process, Ocalan says that he himself decided to urge the PKK to dissolve.
“The latest call was made on my personal initiative. I saw it as a valuable opportunity. I prepared it myself,” Ocalan says in comments.
“I value this loyalty. I don’t need support, but I value it. I’m not exaggerating, but I keep you alive,” says Ocalan, who shows no emotion about the PKK being dissolved.
“I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t emotional and won’t be. I founded it myself and I’m ending it myself,” he says in the transcript.
Oclan remains in prison after being found guilty of treason and separatism by a Turkish court in 1999. One of the lawyers, Ibrahim Bilmez, told Reuters Ocalan’s jail conditions had improved and officials had become more respectful.
“His determination, his willpower remains unchanged. Nothing has diminished. He continues to strive for a democratic resolution of the Kurdish issue,” the lawyer said.
End of the conflict
Sources have told Reuters that Ankara is preparing a law to let thousands of PKK fighters and civilians return home from hideouts in northern Iraq under talks on ending the conflict.
In the May video call, Ocalan was found saying, “Many comrades will return to Turkey. The law must resolve this.”
(With inputs from Reuters)