IMPRISONED PKK LEADER ABDULLAH ÖCALAN’S HISTORIC CALL FOR PEACE: I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF POLITICS, NOT GUNS

After four decades of tense armed conflict with the Turkish State, pro-Kurdish terrorist organization PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) now seems to follow a different path and give peace a chance. PKK’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan’s historic call for peace came two days ago, on July 9, 2025. Incarcerated in İmralı Prison on İmralı Island, Öcalan, as the founder of the PKK, called PKK militants to lay down their arms and make peace with the Turkish State. Öcalan said: “I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons, and I call on you to put this principle into practice. The establishment of a disarmament mechanism will advance the process. What has been done is a voluntary transition from the stage of armed struggle to the stage of democratic politics and law. This should not be considered a loss, but a historic gain. The details of laying down arms will be determined and implemented quickly.”[1]

PKK laid down arms in a symbolic ceremony

Following this historic call, the PKK began laying down arms today (July 11, 2025) as part of the “Call for Peace and Democratic Society” made by its leader Abdullah Öcalan. The symbolic ceremony took place in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-controlled city of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq. According to AFP news agency, 30 PKK fighters, including four commanders, set fire to their weapons in the Casana cave.[2] Tuncer Bakırhan, pro-Kurdish DEM Party’s Co-Chairman, who travelled to Sulaymaniyah for the PKK’s disarmament ceremony, said, “We will witness a step that will eliminate 50 years of violence and conflict.”[3] Bakırhan also said that he hoped President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would say something important in his speech tomorrow. The burning of guns sent a powerful message about the new era: the era of Che Guevara is over, and now the era of solving problems through politics and diplomacy begins.

The end of the era of terrorism in Türkiye

To rewind the events, Öcalan’s call came after the Erdoğan government’s junior partner MHP’s leader Devlet Bahçeli’s shocking statement in late 2024. Bahçeli, the leader of Turkish ultranationalists, surprised everyone and said that Öcalan should come to the Turkish parliament and issue a statement explaining that PKK is dissolved and a new peace process is beginning.[4] Bahçeli’s call was supported by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Parti/AKP government, while the main opposition party CHP also did not object categorically to the idea of PKK making peace with the state. Erdoğan, following this call, thanked Bahçeli and said that Bahçeli is a leader who made a mark in history with his courageous statements and wise words and set a direction.[5] According to public polls, around 65 percent of Turkish people also support the peace process.[6] This means, the government, despite being frequently criticized for implementing a more authoritarian regime, would reach a historic success in case the solution process could be completed and the PKK could lay down arms forever.

This historic event tells us a lot about the importance of conjuncture in politics and the influence of political culture as well. If one has to remember the first solution process during the 2009-2015 period, the Turkish government used democratic methods and did its best to convince the Turkish public that the democratic solution to the Kurdish Problem and the elimination of the PKK terrorism would be a big gain for Turkish people, unfortunately, many people and most of the political organizations did not support this process. Moreover, Turkish media and press elements, instead of supporting democracy, objected to the process and played the nationalism card. However, this time, the second solution process (2024-2025) is conducted through more authoritarian methods, with the guaranteed support of the Turkish media and press, thanks to government control over it. Moreover, due to constant judicial operations against opposition party leaders, many politicians from the opposition camp refrained from criticizing the process openly. Strangely enough, this model seems more compatible with the Turkish political culture as people tend to support the peace process more when they are afraid of the state. In that sense, the Machiavellian style embraced by President Erdoğan could be more successful than the earlier democratic method. Another factor to be discussed here is of course the conjuncture. While the PKK-affiliated PYD/YPG groups (called SDF-Syrian Democratic Forces) acquire a legal status in Syria, under Ahmad al-Shaara’s new regime, with Ankara’s no open objection, it seems quite timely to make such an opening to export PKK from Türkiye to Syria. This strategy also seems harmonious with the United States’ projections in the region, normalizing relations with Syria.

So, after 22 long years in power, President Erdoğan, as a great master of petty politics, this time could achieve a historic success and could make history by becoming the leader who eliminated the terrorism problem in the country. By doing this, Erdoğan could also secure a third term in office with the support of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party voters’ support. However, the government’s approach to CHP and other opposition actors, as well as the poor economic performance of the country, could make things more difficult in the coming days. Also, for the process to end successfully, in my opinion, the government needs to take some further steps on Kurdish rights. These, I think, may be more related to cultural rights and civilianization and democratization.

Finally, let us hope that Türkiye will soon become an example of a country that solves its violence and terrorism problem in its unique way, more compatible with its statist and patrimonial political culture. This would certainly boost President Erdoğan both in domestic politics and also on the international stage, but due to other problems, a third term could be still very challenging in a democratic election. But whatever the motive, the fact that the government is trying to solve such a huge problem, one that has caused the deaths of 50,000 people, after 40 years, is an important indication of the government’s courage and determination. I therefore wholeheartedly congratulate everyone who has contributed to this process.

Cover Photo: BBC News Türkçe

Prof. Dr. Ozan ÖRMECİ

 

FOOTNOTES

[1] For details, see; https://t24.com.tr/haber/abdullah-ocalan-in-26-yil-sonra-ilk-kez-goruntulu-mesaji-yayinlandi-pkk-ya-silah-birakma-cagrisi-yapti,1248825.

[2] See; https://www.bbc.com/turkce/articles/czdv8lgn78yo.

[3] Ibid.

[4] For details; https://www.bbc.com/turkce/articles/c2kdk9581z0o.

[5] https://www.bbc.com/turkce/articles/cwy1wn9pyz3o.

[6] https://www.rudaw.net/turkish/middleeast/turkey/0507202515.