PKK Urges Türkiye to Ease Imprisonment of 'Chief Negotiator' Ocalan
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has said Türkiye should ease prison conditions for its founder Abdullah Ocalan, declaring him the group's "chief negotiator" for any future talks after a decision to disband.
A spokesman for the Kurdish group, blacklisted as a "terrorist" organization by Ankara and its Western allies, told AFP in an interview on Monday that Türkiye has not yet provided guarantees for a peace process, and expressed objection to exiling PKK members.
In recent months, the PKK has made several historic decisions, starting with announcing a ceasefire and ultimately declaring on May 12 its dissolution, ending a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that cost more than 40,000 lives.
The group's moves followed an appeal by Ocalan, made in a letter from Istanbul's Imrali prison island where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999.
Zagros Hiwa, spokesman for the PKK's political wing, told AFP in a written interview that "as an organization which has waged military struggle for 41 years, we have decided to dissolve and put an end to armed struggle."
"By this, we give peace a real chance."
"So from now on, we expect that the Turkish state makes amendments in the solitary confinement conditions" of Ocalan, and allow him "free and secure work conditions so that he could lead the process," Hiwa said.
"Leader Apo is our chief negotiator" for any talks with Türkiye, he added, referring to Ocalan.
The spokesman said that "only Leader Apo can lead the practical implementation of the decision" taken by the PKK congress earlier this month to disband, paving the way for a political settlement.
The dissolution mechanisms are unclear yet, but the Turkish government has said it would carefully monitor the process to ensure full implementation.
Hiwa said the implementation would be addressed in Ocalan's negotiations with Turkish officials.
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