Barzani described the initiative as an opportunity to achieve “peaceful coexistence” and expressed his “full support” for efforts aimed at ending the long-standing conflict between the two sides, read a statement by the KRG.
The KRG premier underscored “the importance of seizing every opportunity [available] to achieve peace and stability” and “to strengthen peaceful coexistence and brotherhood between the peoples of the region and the world.” He further expressed the Kurdistan Region's readiness to play a role in advancing the peace process.
Barzani’s remarks followed his Wednesday meeting with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which has been leading efforts to broker peace.
The DEM Party delegation stated on Wednesday that a “new phase has begun in Turkey” where achieving “peace and a resolution for the Kurdish issue has become a crucial and urgent matter,” as noted in the KRG statement.
In recent months, the DEM Party revived efforts to negotiate an agreement between Turkey and the PKK, aiming to end decade-long hostilities between them.
The DEM Party delegation arrived in the Kurdistan Region on Saturday and has since met with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani, the Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Bafel Talabani, and KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani.
The delegation conveyed messages from jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to the Region’s top officials and politicians. Its members had met Ocalan twice in recent months. On February 8, the DEM Party announced that Ocalan would make a "historic call" aimed at finding a permanent solution to the Kurdish issue in Turkey and promoting the establishment of a democratic Turkey.
Observers believe that Ocalan might ask the PKK to lay down its arms. However, the PKK has stated that it will not heed such calls unless Ocalan is allowed to physically meet the group’s leadership in person and is released from prison.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially advocated for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan but now seeks autonomy. Turkey, the European Union, and the United States classify the group as a terrorist organization.
