ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish consul general to Erbil said on Tuesday that they are very thankful to Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani for his role in the ongoing peace talks between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
President Barzani “is a figure very dear to us. He has been a guest of our president very recently. Of course, the current process was one of the main items of the meeting. He is, like all other leaders in [the] Kurdistan Region, President Nechirvan is doing his part in contributing to the success of this process. And we are very thankful,” Erman Topcu told Rudaw.
He added that “synchronized steps” are made in Iraq with the help of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. “ So we are hopeful for the future.”
Following a call from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan in February, the PKK dissolved itself and decided to lay down arms. The group has also taken other steps to help the process go smoothly, with the latest one being the withdrawal of its fighters from a strategic mountain in the Kurdistan Region.
A parliamentary commission has been formed to find a legal framework for the process. However, the body has not reached an agreement to send a delegation to Imrali prison to meet with Ocalan.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the initiator of the ongoing Ankara-PKK peace talks, on Tuesday reiterated his call on the commission to visit Ocalan. He noted that he and some of his colleagues will meet the PKK leader if the commission fails to do so.
President Barzani has played a key role in the talks. He said on Tuesday that based on his meetings with Turkish officials, especially with Erdogan, he has come to the conclusion that the Turkish state is serious in the process. He added that such a process needs patience, noting that it could take years.
The process is a renewed effort by the Turkish government to resolve the decades-long conflict with the PKK through political and strategic measures rather than armed confrontation.
Topcu highlighted the involvement of the parliamentary commission, which includes representatives from almost all political parties.
Responding to criticism from the PKK that Turkey has not taken concrete steps, Topcu emphasized the "strategic" and "sensitive" nature of the process. “No strategic process like this was ever governed by speeches, statements and so on. It is taken, it is conducted by steps,” he said, urging all parties to focus on tangible progress rather than rhetoric.
The PKK, established in 1978, initially sought Kurdish independence before shifting its focus to securing political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies.
Naif Ramazan contributed to this article from Duhok.
