ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday praised the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for his continued support for peace talks between the Kurdish group and Ankara. Erdogan also noted progress in ongoing efforts to establish a parliamentary commission to bring the matter before the legislature.
“We are determined to build a terrorism-free future. We are clear about what we will do to reach our goal, how we will achieve it, and where we will ultimately end up,” Erdogan told journalists on Monday.
“Imrali has provided and continues to provide all kinds of support on this issue. This aspect is very important,” the Turkish leader added, referring to the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been jailed at Imrali prison since 1999.
On May 12, the PKK announced its dissolution and intention to disarm after being urged to do so by their founder Ocalan who said it was time to take the struggle for Kurdish rights into the political sphere.
The PKK has declared a unilateral ceasefire and on July 11 had a ceremonial disarmament where 30 fighters, including commanders, burned their weapons.
Erdogan also said that they are following the PKK disarmament process, adding that the negotiations to form a parliamentary commission to address the peace process, or what Ankara calls terror-free Turkey, have “reached the final stage. You will soon see progress at the parliamentary level.”
The peace process will be guided by the parliamentary commission. Representatives of the parliamentary bloc of Turkey’s political parties met with the parliament speaker on Friday and the commission will be formed within days. The commission has broad political support, except from the ultranationalist IYI Party.
Cemil Bayik, co-chair of the executive council of PKK umbrella group the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), said in a recent interview with PKK media that the commission’s sole purpose cannot be disarmament of the PKK.
“If the PKK armed itself, it wasn't because they wanted to use weapons. The Turkish state, through its policies and practices, forced them to do so. That's why the armed movement developed. If they don't want an armed movement, they need to change their policies. Only then will the problem be solved. The issue of weapons alone won't solve the problem,” he said.
He also warned that the group will not commit to further disarmament until Turkey makes legal reforms to address discrimination of its Kurdish population, and if Ankara fails to take action, then other groups will emerge and pick up the fight.
Devlet Bahceli, the initiator of the nascent peace process and leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has said that a Kurd and an Alevi could serve as vice presidents of the country - a statement he reiterated on Monday.
“Both Alevis and Kurds are ours,” he said. “We are one, we are together, we are brothers, we are a very large family.”
