ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas has expressed support for renewed peace talks in Turkey, in a statement published on social media on Saturday.
"As actors engaged in democratic and peaceful politics, we desire, demand, and support the permanent end to conflicts and violence,” Demirtas said, reacting to a new initiative seeking a fresh peace process between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state.
Demirtas, a charismatic politician who played a role in collapsed peace talks a decade ago, has been jailed since 2016 on PKK-linked charges.
“We will be with Mr. Ocalan if he takes the initiative on this issue when the conditions are met,” Demirtas said, referring to Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the PKK who has been imprisoned since 1999.
A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) made a rare visit to Ocalan last month after the Turkish government shifted its hardline stance prohibiting contact with the PKK leader.
Pervin Buldan, one of the politicians who met with Ocalan, called the visit “much more hopeful” compared to the previous peace process.
Demirtas said he offers “all kinds of support to peace initiatives,” but said the responsibility for the call to peace lies with Ocalan, the government, and the parliament.
This peace initiative began last year when the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli proposed inviting Ocalan to address the parliament and announce the dissolution of the PKK.
According to the DEM Party delegation, Ocalan expressed his willingness to cooperate with the proposals for peace.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially called for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan but now calls for autonomy. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey.
DEM Party’s predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), played a key role in negotiating peace talks a decade ago. The talks collapsed in 2015 and were followed by intense urban fighting in the country’s southwestern Kurdish areas.
"As actors engaged in democratic and peaceful politics, we desire, demand, and support the permanent end to conflicts and violence,” Demirtas said, reacting to a new initiative seeking a fresh peace process between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state.
Demirtas, a charismatic politician who played a role in collapsed peace talks a decade ago, has been jailed since 2016 on PKK-linked charges.
“We will be with Mr. Ocalan if he takes the initiative on this issue when the conditions are met,” Demirtas said, referring to Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the PKK who has been imprisoned since 1999.
A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) made a rare visit to Ocalan last month after the Turkish government shifted its hardline stance prohibiting contact with the PKK leader.
Pervin Buldan, one of the politicians who met with Ocalan, called the visit “much more hopeful” compared to the previous peace process.
Demirtas said he offers “all kinds of support to peace initiatives,” but said the responsibility for the call to peace lies with Ocalan, the government, and the parliament.
This peace initiative began last year when the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli proposed inviting Ocalan to address the parliament and announce the dissolution of the PKK.
According to the DEM Party delegation, Ocalan expressed his willingness to cooperate with the proposals for peace.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially called for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan but now calls for autonomy. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey.
DEM Party’s predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), played a key role in negotiating peace talks a decade ago. The talks collapsed in 2015 and were followed by intense urban fighting in the country’s southwestern Kurdish areas.
