The founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, said that the rapprochement between Turks and Kurds was a “historical responsibility” and said to himself ” determined “ to participate in the peace process launched in Türkiye, announced the Party for People's Equality and Democracy (DEM, pro-Kurdish), Sunday December 29.
On Saturday, a DEM delegation spoke with the PKK leader during a prison visit, the first in ten years. The 75-year-old leader has been incarcerated since 1999 on an island off the coast of Istanbul. The Turkish government authorized this visit on Friday after a request made by the DEM.
The visit was made possible after Nationalist Action Party (MHP) President Devlet Bahçeli extended a surprise olive branch to Mr. Öcalan two months ago, inviting him in Parliament to renounce terrorism and to dissolve his group; a position supported by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Historic opportunity”
“I have the competence and determination to make a positive contribution to the new paradigm launched by Mr. BahçEli and M. Erdogan »said Mr. Öcalan, who also said, according to the DEM press release, that the delegation that visited him would share its approach with the state and political circles. “In light of this, I am prepared to take the necessary action and make this appeal. »
DEM co-president Tuncer Bakirhan sees in Öcalan's words “a historic opportunity to build a common future”in a message posted on X. “We are on the eve of a potential democratic transformation in Türkiye and the region. Now is the time for courage (…) for an honorable peace »he said.
The PKK, a Kurdish separatist organization, in armed struggle for decades against Turkish central power, is classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom.
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