, saying that the group’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, is fully backing the process, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.){kind=link}
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has signaled that his government is preparing new legislation to support the country’s ongoing peace efforts with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), saying that the group’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, is fully backing the process, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Speaking to reporters aboard his plane on Monday after a visit to northern Cyprus, Erdoğan said parliament would soon begin discussing key reforms aimed at ending the decades-long Kurdish conflict.
“As you know, the process of laying down arms has already begun,” Erdoğan said, referring to a symbolic ceremony held by PKK members earlier this month in northern Iraq. “You will soon witness progress taking place in parliament. We are determined to build a future free of terrorism.”
On July 11 a group of 30 PKK fighters held a high-profile ceremony in Sulaymaniyah at which they publicly destroyed their weapons in what was billed as the first step toward ending the group’s four-decade armed conflict against the Turkish state.
The ceremony followed months of indirect negotiations between Öcalan and Ankara that began in October with Erdoğan’s blessing and were facilitated by Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
The president, who is criticized for failing to announce any concrete steps in response to growing calls for political reform and reintegration after the PKK decision to lay down its arms, said that negotiations for forming a parliamentary commission to oversee the peace talks and propose legal reforms are nearing completion.
Erdoğan said his government remains alert to any attempts at sabotage and affirmed that “İmralı,” a reference to the prison island where Öcalan is serving a life sentence, “has provided all kinds of support and will continue to do so. This dimension is extremely important.”
Öcalan said the PKK’s laying down of arms represents a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law, urging his militant group to seek democratic ways to fight for the rights of Turkey’s Kurdish minority.
Founded by Öcalan in 1978, the PKK has led a bloody war in Turkey’s southeast since 1984. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
DEM Party urges legal guarantees, restoration of civil rights
The pro-Kurdish DEM Party has welcomed recent developments but continues to press for broader legal changes, institutionalized negotiations and the restoration of civil rights for Kurdish citizens. Party officials argue that without clear legal guarantees and democratic oversight, the process risks being derailed, as in previous failed attempts at reconciliation.
While government officials portray the current roadmap as a path to national unity, critics note that past peace efforts collapsed due to a lack of transparency, political interference in the judiciary and the government’s hardline rhetoric during election cycles.
Regional dynamics and Kurdish armed groups
Erdoğan also addressed the role of Kurdish militant groups in Syria, suggesting that their shifting allegiances could influence the peace process. “The stance of the YPG [People’s Protection Units] can change at any moment,” he said. “It is important to see how this will be reflected within the SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces].”
Turkey considers both the US-backed SDF and its leading component, the YPG, as extensions of the PKK.
However, Ilham Ahmed, a senior political figure with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, recently rejected Ankara’s calls for the laying down of arms. In remarks to BBC’s Turkish service, Ahmed said the SDF remains armed in response to ongoing threats from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant militants and the absence of a lasting constitutional framework in Syria. She said the SDF seeks integration into the Syrian state, not negotiations with Turkey.
Intelligence chief briefs political parties on peace process
As part of the government’s efforts to broaden support for the peace initiative, Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın met with leaders of parliamentary parties in Ankara on Monday, according to Anadolu.
Kalın first visited Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, then held closed-door talks with senior members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), including Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala and parliamentary group leader Abdullah Güler. He later met with Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları, co-leaders of the DEM Party.
Kalın is expected to continue his consultations with other parties in the coming days, including the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the nationalist İYİ (Good) Party and the New Path Party, a coalition of smaller opposition groups including the Future, DEVA and Felicity parties.
The renewed peace process was rekindled in October 2024, when far-right MHP leader Bahçeli, publicly called on Öcalan to urge the PKK to lay down its arms. Öcalan responded in February with a message calling for an end to the insurgency.