The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has said Turkey should ease prison conditions for its founder, Abdullah Öcalan, declaring him the group’s “chief negotiator” for any future talks after a decision to disband.
The Kurdish group, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, announced on May 12 it had adopted a decision to disarm and disband after a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that cost more than 40,000 lives.
The group’s historic decision came after an appeal by Öcalan, made in a letter from İstanbul’s İmralı island prison where he has been held since 1999.
Zagros Hiwa, a spokesman for the PKK’s political wing, told Agence France-Presse on Monday that “we expect the Turkish state will make changes to his solitary confinement” to allow Öcalan “free and secure work conditions so that he can lead the process.”
Since his imprisonment in 1999, Öcalan has spent much of his time in near-total isolation, often without access to lawyers or family members for extended periods. Turkish authorities have cited security concerns in restricting visits. In 2009 several other inmates convicted of terrorism were transferred to İmralı, where Öcalan is held. He has been permitted limited contact with these prisoners during designated hours.
“Leader Apo is our chief negotiator” for any talks with Turkey, Hiwa added in an interview, referring to Öcalan.
“Only Leader Apo can lead the practical implementation of the decision taken by the PKK.”
The method to accomplish the disbanding is unclear, but the Turkish government has said it would carefully monitor the process to ensure full implementation.
Hiwa said the PKK has shown “seriousness regarding peace,” but “until now the Turkish state has not given any guarantees or taken any measures for facilitating the process” and continued its “bombardments and artillery shelling” against the Kurdish group’s positions.
The PKK operates rear bases in Iraq’s autonomous northern Kurdistan region, where Turkey also maintains military bases and often carries out air and ground operations against the Kurdish militants.
Turkish media reports have suggested that militants who had committed no crime on Turkish soil could return without fear of prosecution but that PKK leaders might be forced into exile or to stay behind in Iraq.
Hiwa said the PKK objects to its members or leaders being forced to leave, saying that “real peace requires integration, not exile.”
© Agence France-Presse