“We will carry out the transformation put forward by the leadership, the dissolution of the PKK, and the end of the armed struggle. No one should have any doubts about this. By doing so, of course, the state and the government must also take the necessary steps toward democratization without resorting to any excuses or justifications,” Mustafa Karasu, member of the Kurdistan Communities Union’s (KCK) Executive Council, told PKK-affiliated Medya Haber.
He labeled the recent statement from Ocalan as “very historical,” calling it a “turning point and a new milestone” and stressing that their jailed leader should “step in” at the party’s upcoming congress to finalize the shift to a political struggle.
“The democratization of Turkey is a turning point in terms of the resolution of the Middle East on the basis of democratization and transformation. It is a turning point not only for the Kurds but for all the people in Turkey,” Karasu said.
On Thursday, a pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) delegation shared a letter from Ocalan in which he urged the PKK to disarm and disband. The message - conveyed from Turkey’s secluded Imrali prison where Ocalan has been imprisoned since 1999 - has sparked hope for the resolution to the nearly four-decade conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which has claimed over 40,000 lives.
The PKK on Saturday declared a unilateral ceasefire with Turkey, stating it agrees with the contents of leader Ocalan’s recent letter but set a physical meeting with their jailed leader as a precondition to any successful peace process.
Karasu stressed that Ocalan’s message “will pave the way for the century-long struggle for democracy waged by the Kurdish people and the people of Turkey, the socialists and workers in Turkey, to become meaningful, to become concrete, and to turn into concrete gains.”
He also suggested that ending the armed struggle and resorting to democratic methods instead will address their concerns within Turkey even if obstacles are to be encountered. “The Kurdish issue will also reach a conclusion with the solutions brought by democratization,” Karasu affirmed.
Following Ocalan’s message, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said that Turkey remains open to dialogue and compromise but warned that military operations would continue “if the promises given are not kept.”
