Imprisoned PKK leader calls for new laws that would advance peace with the Turkish government

Audio By Carbonatix

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The imprisoned leader of a militant Kurdish group in Turkey on Friday urged for new legislation that would advance a peace initiative with the Turkish government in the wake of their decades‑long conflict.

The appeal by Abullah Ocalan came a year after his historic call for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, to lay down its arms and dissolve itself.

His latest message, read out in parliament by a senior member of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party, followed weeks after a parliamentary committee recommended a series of reforms to support the peace efforts — including measures to reintegrate PKK members who renounce violence.

“The transition to democratic integration necessitates laws of peace,” read Ocalan's message.

“We aim to close the era of politics based on violence and to open a process based on a democratic society and the rule of law,” legislator Pervin Buldan read from the message.

“We invite all segments of society to create opportunities and take responsibility in this direction,” it also said.

The PKK has waged an armed insurgency since 1984 in Turkey that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and spilled into neighboring Iraq and Syria. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

After Ocalan's Feb. 27, 2025 announcement, the PKK said in May that it would disarm and disband, ending more than four decades of hostilities.

The group later held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq — where its fighters had long found safe havens during the insurgency — and burned dozens of weapons in a cauldron before starting to withdraw its remaining fighters from Turkey to Iraq.

Earlier this month, a multi-party parliamentary commission recommended a series of reforms, including the reintegration of PKK members who renounce violence, while stressing that legal steps should be tied to state security institutions verifying that the group has surrendered its weapons.

Among other measures, the commission also called for steps to expand freedom of expression, release older or sick prisoners and ensure that nonviolent acts are not prosecuted under anti‑terror laws.

On Friday, the pro‑Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, also urged the adoption of such legal measures.

“The state and the executive branch are obligated to move this process forward with the seriousness and determination that matches Mr. Ocalan’s pace for a solution” DEM party co-chairman Tuncer Bakirhan said. “The responsibility now rests with the state and the executive branch.”

Ocalan, 76, has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali, off the coast of Istanbul, since 1999, after being convicted of treason. Despite his incarceration, he continues to wield significant influence over the PKK. The group initially sought an independent Kurdish state but later shifted to demands for autonomy and expanded rights in Turkey.