Öcalan’s Freedom: PKK’s Condition for Continuing the Peace Process with Turkey
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has announced that until the release of its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, it will take no further steps within the framework of the peace agreement with Turkey.
Amad Mela Zegirt, a senior PKK member, emphasized: “We have implemented all the steps initiated by Öcalan, and after these, there will be no further action. Now it is Turkey’s turn to take the necessary measures.”
Speaking from the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq — the main stronghold of PKK fighters — Zegirt listed two key demands for the continuation of the peace process: the release of Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned on İmralı Island since 1999, and the official recognition of Kurdish rights in Turkey through constitutional reform.
About a week ago, members of a parliamentary committee responsible for overseeing the peace process met with Öcalan for the first time in his prison on İmralı Island. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey stated in a communiqué that the meeting had “yielded positive results.”
During the session, issues such as the dissolution and disarmament of the PKK and a plan to integrate Kurdish fighters into the new Syrian army were discussed.
These developments come six months after the PKK, at Öcalan’s request, officially declared an end to four decades of armed struggle against Turkey — a conflict that claimed around 50,000 lives.
Turkey had also initiated indirect talks with the PKK last year. In February, Öcalan, from prison, called on his supporters to “abandon armed struggle and pursue their cause through democratic means.”
