“Both sides described the peace process in Turkey as a historic step and opportunity that should not be missed, and emphasized that everyone should cooperate to ensure the success of the process and the achievement of peace,” said a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
During the meeting, President Barzani reiterated Erbil’s “full support” toward the process, stressing “the importance of peace and its positive implications for Turkey and the entire region.”
Davutoglu praised Ankara’s relations with Baghdad and Erbil, calling for stronger cooperation between all parties.
Earlier in May, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced its intent to disband and end its armed campaign against the Turkish state. The group described the move as a step toward a peaceful resolution to the conflict that has lasted more than 40 years and claimed over 40,000 lives.
The PKK’s decision followed a party congress held from May 5 to 7 in the mountains of the Kurdistan Region, where senior commanders responded to jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan’s earlier call - relayed in late February by Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) - urging a shift toward political engagement.
The PKK leader’s February message then sparked hope for ending the four-decade-old conflict between Ankara and the PKK.
On Sunday, Ocalan called for renewed Kurdish-Turkish relations and described Kurds and Turks as “brothers” who “cannot be without the other.”
President Barzani welcomed the PKK’s decision to disband and end its armed struggle as a “decisive step that opens a new chapter in the region” and paves the way for political dialogue toward regional stability.
The Turkish army has established dozens of bases and outposts in northern Kurdistan Region on the pretext of fighting the PKK.
On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the dissolution of the PKK “will also serve Iraq and Syria’s peace, development, and stability,” adding that Ankara is engaged with neighboring countries on how the process will be carried out.
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 as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its allies.
