WASHINGTON DC—Amid Newroz celebrations, Kurds in Turkey are eagerly anticipating a “historical message” from the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan.
Following his third meeting with Ocalan at Imrali Island on Monday, co-chair of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Selahattin Demirtas said that Ocalan will make a “historical appeal” on the Kurdish New Year Nweroz.
Demirtas said that the PKK leader aims to solve the armed conflict in Turkey without the loss of life.
“The current resolution is continuing positively,” Demirtas quoted Ocalan. “Our goal is the democratization of all of Turkey. Our efforts are for this aim.”
Ocalan is expected to solicit the PKK and the Turkish government to reach a permanent ceasefire that would end a conflict that has cost more than 40,000 lives in the past three decades.
Any peace deal between Turkey and the PKK, would involve the withdrawal of PKK fighters from Turkish territories and their subsequent disarmament.
“In order to - rapidly - fulfill the withdrawal and achieve permanent peace, I hope that parliament will take necessary steps to carry out its historical responsibilities,” Ocalan said through the BDP leader.
However, PKK leaders have expressed concerns over the withdrawal of their fighters. They demand guarantees from the Turkish government.
For his part, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that his government would employ every possible measure to ensure a safe withdrawal.
“Laying down arms means halting military operations. I am OK with this. If they (PKK militants) withdraw, I will do whatever I can, I guarantee this,” Erdogan said.
Turkey’s peace process is likely to have an impact on the situation in Syria. Analysts believe that the increasing power of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) across the Syrian border has motivated PM Erdogan to initiate talks with Ocalan.
“If the Turkish state creates friendship with our brothers and sisters over there and respects their rights, we will support that,” Salih Muslim, head of the PYD told Rudaw this week. “Indeed, it will be a positive sign for us that Ankara wants to have good relations with Western Kurdistan too.”
Muslim added, “We hope that after this process, Ankara’s negative attitude towards PYD and the Kurds in Syria will change to the positive. Turkey is a friend, not an enemy.”
According to veteran journalist Hakki Ocal, the United States seems to welcome the peace talks in Turkey.
“The US government and the Congress are welcoming the peace initiative in Turkey,” Ocal said. “But this is not a only a US reaction: this time everybody, diplomats in the State Department, university scholars and think tanks, the Turkish and Kurdish Diaspora in in the country are very hopeful, and these hopes are not baseless.”
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment