The conference, titled “Turkey’s Difficult Peace: PKK’s Disarmament and Political Turning Points in an Unstable Geopolitical Situation,” carried out significant discussions on the dynamics of the PKK’s disarmament and changes in Turkey’s domestic policy. It coincided with the World Day of Peace in Turkey.
Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan delivered a speech to the conference, calling on Kurds to “unite on democratic grounds” and integrate into states that offer them “democratic society-based” ties. His remarks came days after he stressed that the peace talks must proceed with urgency.
“We have seen repeatedly through painful experiences over the past forty years that peace in Turkey is an elusive possibility and situation. This time too, we have ‘grasped with difficulty’ the opportunity for peace, but we are making efforts with all our strength and sensitivity to bring it to fruition," Ocalan said.
The PKK in May officially declared its dissolution and an end to its four-decade-long armed campaign against the Turkish state, acting on a landmark February appeal from Ocalan to seek a political resolution to a conflict that has claimed nearly 40,000 lives.
As a symbolic gesture of goodwill, a first group of 30 PKK fighters publicly set fire to their weapons in a disarmament ceremony held in Sulaimani province around mid-July.
Later that month, the Turkish parliament formed a special commission tasked with charting a course toward lasting peace. The commission includes representatives from all major political parties, including the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Commission member Bulent Kaya stated that important steps have been taken since its formation.
Kaya, who is a lawmaker for the Felicity Party (Saadet), said the ruling AKP has come to the belief that the inclusion of opposition parties in the commission is important for the process to succeed.
“The government should take some administrative steps that do not require legal grounds, including no longer appointing trustees to municipalities,” he said.
The Turkish state’s policy of dismissing elected officials and appointing trustees in their positions has been ongoing for years. Dozens of mainly Kurdish mayors have been removed from their posts since 2016 and sentenced on terrorism-related charges for alleged PKK ties. More recently, CHP-run municipalities have also fallen victim to the practice.
Mehdi Eker, Turkey’s former agriculture minister from the AKP, stressed that the Ankara-PKK peace talks will play a key role in the country’s future.
“If we understand [our situation] well today, we can build a better future,” Eker, a Kurd, said in his speech. “We can bring peace again.”
The former minister admitted the Turkish state’s “wrong approach” to the conflict, lamenting that it had a “large share in its growth and development.”
“When we achieve this together, we will not only treat our wounds with wisdom and establish peace and tranquility, but also present a model to the world on conflict resolution,” Eker said.
DEM Party lawmaker Mithat Sancar, who is among the mediators of the Ankara-PKK peace talks, labeled Ocalan’s February call as “historic” and said that the Sulaimani disarmament ceremony was more than a symbolic disarmament.
“Peace is very difficult to catch, but I believe no one would disagree that it is a very important goal,” said the mediator, adding that Turkey has been damaged by over 40 years of war with the PKK.
Sancar described peace in Turkey as a “hard-to-catch situation” but stressed that acknowledging the root of the Ankara-PKK conflict is key to ensuring its end.
“We need to address the problem at the basis of this conflict. Conflict does not emerge out of nowhere. It has a cause and a source. The cause and source [of this conflict] is the Kurdish issue,” the lawmaker explained.
CHP lawmaker Oguz Kaan Salici stressed that Ankara must “keep pace” with changes in the Middle East and adapt accordingly.
"The CHP did not oppose the [2013-2015 peace] process. It extended credit to the process. Our then-Chairman, Mr. [Kemal] Klicdaroglu, said from his own mouth, 'Even if I knew it would cost me my political career, we are extending credit to this process. We want this process to proceed,'" he said.
The DEM Party’s predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), played a pivotal role in negotiating peace talks a decade ago. However, the short-lived ceasefire collapsed in 2015 and was followed by intense urban fighting in the country’s southeastern Kurdish areas.
Salici noted that the current process is not only being advanced by the ruling AKP, but that the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is also providing support.
In October, MHP leader Devlet Bahceli initiated the peace process when he called for Ocalan to be allowed to address the Turkish parliament and declare the PKK’s dissolution. Earlier in August, Bahceli said that the process is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially sought to establish an independent Kurdish state but later shifted its focus to pursuing broader political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. It has been designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies.
