ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani met on Monday with Zafer Sirakaya, Deputy Chairman and Head of Foreign Relations for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), to discuss bilateral ties and the ongoing peace process between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
In a statement, the Kurdistan Region Presidency said the two officials discussed “relations between the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and Turkey, as well as the situation in the region.”
President Barzani emphasized that “the Kurdistan Region views Turkey as an important neighbor with which it shares common and long-term interests.” He also expressed deep gratitude to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP for their efforts in “strengthening Turkey’s relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”
Sirakaya, for his part, conveyed Turkey’s “continued desire to expand its relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in all fields.” He also praised President Barzani’s “relationship and friendship with Turkey and his constructive role in promoting regional cooperation.”
The meeting also addressed the ongoing peace process between the Turkish government and the PKK.
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. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada, among others.
The peace process was revived in October when veteran Turkish politician Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and key ally of President Erdogan, called for PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to be allowed to address the Turkish parliament and announce the group’s dissolution.
In the following months, Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) took the lead in mediating the peace process. These efforts culminated in May, when the PKK announced its dissolution and an end to its four-decade-long armed struggle. The move followed a February appeal from Ocalan urging an end to the conflict, which has claimed nearly 40,000 lives, and advocating for a political and democratic solution.
President Barzani welcomed the PKK’s decision to disband in mid-May, describing it as “a decisive step that opens a new chapter in the region” and a path toward political dialogue and long-term stability.
Erbil has also played an active role in advancing the peace process.
In early July, the Kurdistan Region's eastern Sulaimani province hosted a disarmament ceremony for the first group of PKK fighters, symbolizing goodwill in the ongoing negotiations.
Around that time, Dilshad Shahab, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region Presidency, revealed that President Barzani had been working since 2022 to facilitate the peace talks between Ankara and the PKK, leveraging both regional connections and international diplomatic channels.
“What we see now has been in the making for years,” Shahab said, asserting that “since 2022 and 2023, the President of the Kurdistan Region has been in direct contact - through every possible channel, and at times not only with the two main parties in the conflict but also through his diplomatic relations with the international community - to help facilitate and pave the way for ending armed conflict in the region.”
