Ocalan reaffirms PKK shift to peace, urges legislative oversight for peace process

Rudaw Net

09-07-2025

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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - In a pivotal video message released Wednesday, Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), reaffirmed the group's historic departure from armed struggle and reiterated his call for a legislative commission to oversee the peace process with the Turkish state.
In the message, filmed on June 19, Ocalan Ocalan described the current moment as a 'highly valuable and historic' juncture and restated his commitment to the 'Call for Peace and a Democratic Society' he issued in February, urging PKK members to abandon armed resistance in favor of a political path to securing Kurdish rights.
In May, the PKK announced it would adhere to Ocalan's call - an announcement the jailed leader hailed as a 'historic response.'
Ocalan explicitly declared the official end of the PKK's national liberation war strategy, stating that with the recognition of Kurdish existence, the armed struggle had become an 'excessive repetition and a dead end.'
He attributed the shift to recent discussions held with Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which he emphasized were conducted 'on the basis of free will.'
The DEM Party has been leading a broad, months-long peace initiative to resolve the four-decade conflict, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives - mostly PKK fighters. Ankara has framed this initiative within its 'Free-Terror Turkey' campaign.
The jailed PKK leader also revealed that a 'manifesto for a democratic society' has been prepared, calling it a 'historic turning point.' He said the next step requires 'voluntary disarmament' and the formation of a "comprehensive commission authorized and established by law' to regulate its works by the Turkish parliament.
He further underlined that the PKK has now 'abandoned its nation-state goal' and its foundational war strategy, transitioning to a new phase of 'democratic politics and law.'
In late June, the DEM Party told Rudaw that it plans to submit a proposal to the speaker of parliament for the creation of a 40 to 50 member commission to manage the peace process and establish its legal and political framework.
In his video message, Ocalan stressed the interdependence of individual and societal freedom, stating: 'Society can be free to the extent that the individual is free, and the individual can be free to the extent that society is free.'
He concluded by expressing confidence in 'the power of politics and social peace, not weapons,' urging the full implementation of the peace plan.
Ocalan's Wednesday message notably comes just days before a disarmament ceremony is scheduled for Friday, July 11, in the Kurdistan Region's eastern Sulaimani province. There, the first group of PKK fighters - estimated to number between 30 and 40 - are expected to formally lay down arms and destroy their weapons.
Founded in 1978, the PKK originally sought to establish an independent Kurdish state. In recent decades, however, it has shifted focus toward securing political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.