ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani on Thursday welcomed a long-anticipated letter by the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, which calls on the group to lay down arms and dissolve itself.
“We warmly welcome Mr. Ocalan's message and his call for disarmament and dissolution of the PKK. We request that the PKK commits to and obeys this message and implements it,” President Barzani said on X. “We hope this call will pave the way for achieving peace and peaceful resolution.”
The Kurdish president also said that “this is the era of peaceful, civil, and democratic struggle, and better results and achievements will be realized through this path, not through weapons and violence,” expressing Erbil’s readiness to fully support the peace process and “play a helpful and cooperative role in whatever falls upon us to make the process successful.”
Ocalan said in his letter, which was read out by the delegation, which has visited him several times as part of the peace talks, that the PKK must convene and make a decision - “all groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself.”
He added that the need for a democratic society is inevitable. The PKK, the longest and most extensive insurgency and armed movement in the history of the Republic, found social base and support, and was primarily inspired by the fact that the channels of democratic politics were closed.”
In recent months, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has been spearheading peace efforts between Ankara and the PKK. Earlier in February, a DEM Party delegation visited the Kurdistan Region and met with senior Kurdish officials, including President Barzani and PUK’s Talabani.
Talabani also welcomed the letter.
“We welcome Abdullah Ocalan's statement, we think it as a responsible and necessary call at this stage to unite the Kurds and resolve issues through peaceful dialogue based on partnership and solidarity, paving the way for a brighter and more peaceful future for our people,” he said.
“We urge all parties to embrace this statement and take practical steps toward achieving comprehensive peace, seizing this historic opportunity—one that President Mam Jalal first laid the foundation for in 1993,” he added.
