ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdulla Ocalan, has said that the peace process with Turkey will continue despite recent setbacks, his brother told Rudaw.
“He said it’s a two-sided issue and the government must do their part…But if they don’t work accordingly, in six months’ time things might take a different direction,” Mihemmed Ocalan said after a visit to his brother on the prison island of Imrali two weeks ago.
Ocalan often sends messages to the outside world through his brothers.
Turkey and the PKK have upheld a ceasefire since March 2013, bringing an end to a three-decade long conflict that has cost over 40,000 lives. Turkey still considers the party a terrorist organization, but it recently approved legislation that made the peace talks legal.
Turkish inaction during the siege of the Syrian border town of Kobane enraged the PKK’s support base in Turkey and threatened to derail talks. The fragile peace process deteriorated further in mid-October when Turkish jets bombed a village near the Iraqi border in retaliation for gun attacks on the town’s police station.
Nonetheless, “he wants to solve the issue democratically,” Mihemmed Ocalan said of his brother.
Abdulla Ocalan also dismissed the idea that PKK leaders in the Qandil mountain headquarters are ready to resume armed resistance to the state.
“He said he and Qandil speak with one voice,” Mihemmed Ocalan said. “When he says something, he is usually aware of the view in Qandil and Europe, he is aware of the process in Turkey and the mindset of the Turkish government. His main message is that if Ankara keeps its promises, both he and Qandil are united and ready for the peace process. He said the Kurds are united behind it, and they are ready to do anything if the government is honest.”
Mihemmed Ocalan added that his brother thinks the Turkish government should do more to help the Kurdish city of Kobane.
“He said that the same way Turkey is concerned with the Turkmen of the Balkans, we are concerned about our Kurdish brothers in Kobane,” Mihemmed Ocalan said. “He said Kobane is a small town that is free now and that everyone should respect that freedom. He said that Kobane is small in size, but it is important for the Kurds. He said that Turkey should help them and open the door to Kobane.”
He said that he spoke with his brother about the plan to send Peshmerga to reinforce embattled Syrian Kurdish troops—the People’s Protection Units (YPG)—whose political wing is affiliated with the PKK.
“He said the help should have come sooner, but he said the Peshmerga deployment is the right and good thing. He said it is a great help to the brothers in Rojava where what ISIS has done is unacceptable to humanity.”
Mihemmed Ocalan also quoted his brother as saying that “President Barzani, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Region in general can be of great help to Kurds everywhere. He said that Barzani can play a role in bringing about Kurdish unity.”
Abdulla Ocalan told his brother that the autonomous cantons in Syria, run by the PKK’s affiliate there, were a “good and correct thing, a democratic move that wouldn’t partition Syria.”
“He said the cantons are not a threat to anyone,” including the Syrian government and rebel forces, and “indeed it is the Islamic State that poses the main threat to Syria.”
On Turkish President Erdogan, Ocalan’s partner in the peace process, “he said that he was very happy that for a year and a half there has been peace and no soldiers or guerrillas have been killed. He said that Erdogan is the representative of his people, but that he only talks most of the time, and words aren't worth a penny if they are not followed by deeds.”
“He said it’s a two-sided issue and the government must do their part…But if they don’t work accordingly, in six months’ time things might take a different direction,” Mihemmed Ocalan said after a visit to his brother on the prison island of Imrali two weeks ago.
Ocalan often sends messages to the outside world through his brothers.
Turkey and the PKK have upheld a ceasefire since March 2013, bringing an end to a three-decade long conflict that has cost over 40,000 lives. Turkey still considers the party a terrorist organization, but it recently approved legislation that made the peace talks legal.
Turkish inaction during the siege of the Syrian border town of Kobane enraged the PKK’s support base in Turkey and threatened to derail talks. The fragile peace process deteriorated further in mid-October when Turkish jets bombed a village near the Iraqi border in retaliation for gun attacks on the town’s police station.
Nonetheless, “he wants to solve the issue democratically,” Mihemmed Ocalan said of his brother.
Abdulla Ocalan also dismissed the idea that PKK leaders in the Qandil mountain headquarters are ready to resume armed resistance to the state.
“He said he and Qandil speak with one voice,” Mihemmed Ocalan said. “When he says something, he is usually aware of the view in Qandil and Europe, he is aware of the process in Turkey and the mindset of the Turkish government. His main message is that if Ankara keeps its promises, both he and Qandil are united and ready for the peace process. He said the Kurds are united behind it, and they are ready to do anything if the government is honest.”
Mihemmed Ocalan added that his brother thinks the Turkish government should do more to help the Kurdish city of Kobane.
“He said that the same way Turkey is concerned with the Turkmen of the Balkans, we are concerned about our Kurdish brothers in Kobane,” Mihemmed Ocalan said. “He said Kobane is a small town that is free now and that everyone should respect that freedom. He said that Kobane is small in size, but it is important for the Kurds. He said that Turkey should help them and open the door to Kobane.”
He said that he spoke with his brother about the plan to send Peshmerga to reinforce embattled Syrian Kurdish troops—the People’s Protection Units (YPG)—whose political wing is affiliated with the PKK.
“He said the help should have come sooner, but he said the Peshmerga deployment is the right and good thing. He said it is a great help to the brothers in Rojava where what ISIS has done is unacceptable to humanity.”
Mihemmed Ocalan also quoted his brother as saying that “President Barzani, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Region in general can be of great help to Kurds everywhere. He said that Barzani can play a role in bringing about Kurdish unity.”
Abdulla Ocalan told his brother that the autonomous cantons in Syria, run by the PKK’s affiliate there, were a “good and correct thing, a democratic move that wouldn’t partition Syria.”
“He said the cantons are not a threat to anyone,” including the Syrian government and rebel forces, and “indeed it is the Islamic State that poses the main threat to Syria.”
On Turkish President Erdogan, Ocalan’s partner in the peace process, “he said that he was very happy that for a year and a half there has been peace and no soldiers or guerrillas have been killed. He said that Erdogan is the representative of his people, but that he only talks most of the time, and words aren't worth a penny if they are not followed by deeds.”
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