ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The peace process between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is on track for completion by the end of this year, a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said on Sunday, highlighting the PKK’s disarmament as a crucial trust-building step.
"As everyone knows, this is a process that is proceeding very transparently and no problems have arisen so far. Certainly, such processes are never problem-free processes," Mehmet Galip Ensarioglu, AKP lawmaker for Diyarbakir (Amed), told Rudaw, adding that the process "has proceeded very rapidly. If nothing negative happens, we think it will be completed by the end of this year."
The first group of PKK fighters is expected to disarm in a ceremony in Sulaimani province in the coming days, according to well-informed sources. This move is seen as a goodwill gesture by the PKK after it announced its dissolution in May, following a call from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan on February 27.
The Kurdistan Region is playing an important role in assisting the peace process, according to Ensarioglu, who stressed that the Region’s participation is “required.”. Kurdish leaders have consistently viewed the peace process positively and reiterated their support, especially given that the PKK’s headquarters are located in the Region.
Ensarioglu noted that the process will involve reciprocal steps. "For instance, sick prisoners could be released [by the Turkish state]," he said, potentially followed by the PKK releasing "state officials who are with them." He added that a judicial reform package is anticipated "around the months of September or October."
For the process to advance, Turkish public opinion needs to be satisfied, and "the scene of disarmament must be seen," Ensarioglu explained. He stated that a set number of weapons will be symbolically laid down by the end of the week, calling it "at least a concrete step of this will, a means of increasing trust."
While Turkey has welcomed the PKK’s decision to dissolve and end its armed struggle, it has emphasized the need for taking concrete steps towards total disarmament. Meanwhile, the PKK expects Ankara to introduce democratic reforms.
At the disarmament ceremony in Sulaimani, PKK fighters will destroy their weapons rather than hand them over to any other authority, Rudaw has learned.
Ensarioglu believes that once the violence ends, the political process will strengthen. He expressed his conviction that if political parties support a new democratic constitution, Turkey will become a nation where all its citizens - including Kurds, Turks, and Alevis - live freely as equal participants, with the constitution guaranteeing these rights.
"There is particularly the strong will of the esteemed President [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] and the facilitating and mediating role of the esteemed [Nationalist Movement Party leader] Devlet Bahceli. Also, Ocalan's strong support and will for this process is a great help in resolving the issue," Ensarioglu stated.
MHP leader Bahceli initiated the current peace efforts in October.
A delegation from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) will also attend the ceremony. The DEM Party is mediating peace talks between the PKK and the Turkish state.
In late June, the DEM Party told Rudaw it would soon submit a proposal to the parliament speaker for the formation of a 40 to 50-person commission to oversee the peace process.
A short-lived peace process between Turkey and the PKK in 2013 granted Kurds some rights that were previously seen as taboo, such as elective Kurdish courses at schools. Kurds have been culturally, politically, and economically repressed in Turkey for decades.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially sought an independent Kurdish state but later shifted its focus toward achieving broader political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The group has been labeled a terrorist organization by Ankara and its allies.
Ferdi Sak contributed to this report.
