“We are determined to take the step Leader Apo [Ocalan] demands of us. We are taking this new step by thinking of our people and all peoples. However, this process cannot proceed unilaterally and only with the steps we take,” the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) said in a statement.
Ocalan, in a video message recorded on June 19 and released Wednesday, announced the end of the PKK’s armed struggle and renewed his call for the formation of a parliament commission to oversee the peace process with the Turkish government.
The KCK said that the Turkish state “has not taken any steps in response to the process or our actions,” but affirmed its commitment to Ocalan’s message and the PKK disarmament process regardless.
It further called for the release of Ocalan from prison, stressing “only if Leader Apo is free can the process advance and achieve its goals. Otherwise, no further progress can be made under current conditions.”
The PKK leader has been locked up in Turkey’s secluded Imrali island since 1999 after being whisked away by Turkish intelligence agents in Nairobi, Kenya.
A first batch of PKK fighters is set to disarm in a historic ceremony in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province on Friday. The event marks a major milestone in a broader, months-long peace initiative led by Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which aims to end the four-decade conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
The ceremony also comes as the PKK responded to a February appeal from Ocalan to abandon armed struggle in favor of a political solution.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially sought to establish an independent Kurdish state but has, in recent decades, shifted its focus toward securing greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
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