ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The leader of the Kurdish Islamist Free Cause Party (Huda Par) on Tuesday said that Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), may call on the group to lay down arms in return for his freedom amid a fresh initiative seeking a peace process.
“The release of Abdullah Ocalan is possible. He may tell the PKK that the time of weapons and armed struggle is over and that they should launch a political struggle instead. Such a call is possible in return for Abdullah Ocalan’s freedom,” Zekeriya Yapicioglu told Rudaw.
A Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) delegation, consisting of the party’s lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Sirri Sureyya Onder, were granted rare access to Imrali prison to meet Ocalan. Kurdish veteran politician, Ahmed Turk, was later added to the delegation.
The pro-Kurdish party’s delegation has met with the speaker of the Turkish parliament and most of the Turkish political parties that have lawmakers in the legislature, including the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
The DEM Party delegation has conveyed Ocalan’s message to the political parties.
In his message, he calls on political fronts in Turkey to make “positive contributions,” saying the Turkish parliament could be an important platform for change. He also emphasizes Turkish-Kurdish “brotherhood.”
Yapicioglu’s party, which has close ties with the AKP, has not met with the DEM Party delegation but he said they would endorse the initiative “if the PKK lays down arms,” claiming that the armed group has “caused considerable harm to Kurds.”
The Kurdish issue in Turkey should be resolved disregarding the outcome of the initiative, the politician noted.
Ocalan has been kept in the island prison since 1999.
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 short-lived ceasefire collapsed in 2015 and was followed by intense urban fighting in the country’s southwestern Kurdish areas.
There are also efforts to amend Turkey’s constitution.
Yapicioglu said that the new constitution should guarantee Kurdish rights, primarily Kurdish education.
“Kurds are owners of this land and country and they are also the founders of this Republic. There must be equality - Kurds should enjoy the same rights as Turks. The Kurdish language must be used in the country and education in the mother tongue should not face any challenges,” Zekeriya Yapicioglu told Rudaw, emphasizing that the Turkish constitution should be amended to make this possible.
