By Tahseen Wsu Abdullah
Over the past hundred years, state policy in Turkey has focused more on soft mechanisms for assimilation of the Kurds as a nation than on armed confrontation. Therefore, the start of civil and political struggle is an important necessity of the issue and every patriotic and nationalist Kurd is in favor of the process to be completed in the interest of the Kurds as a nation.
After the PKK launched an armed movement in Turkey in the mid-1970s, it officially began in 1984. Since then, nine ceasefires have been declared by the PKK, but the state has not accepted the ceasefire.
The latest process, when Turkey’s racist MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli introduced an issue in parliament in November that focused more on imprisoned PKK leader Ocalan, does not seem to have been as surprising as it seemed.
In short, Bahceli’s call was an expression of the PKK’s laying down of arms, which attracted Ocalan’s attention and he seriously responded to his call and called for the dissolution of the PKK as an armed force.
First of all, the process has not yet been decided as a title that both sides agree on. The PKK/Ocalan calls it the peace process and democratization of society! However, the Turkish state officially and in the media call the process a “terror-free Turkey” project. This is a very important point to understand from the essence.
After the PKK entered the process at Ocalan’s request and announced its dissolution at a special congress in May this year, insisting that the PKK as an armed force had finished its work! The PKK congress was based on a lengthy statement sent by Ocalan to the PKK leadership in April.
In the statement, Ocalan said many things, mostly an intellectual view and the other part is related to the rejection and strong criticism of all movements and liberation movements of the Kurdish nation in all parts of Kurdistan except the PKK. Although he has directed some of his harsh criticisms at some of the PKK leaders, saying that they do not understand him, Devlet Bahçeli understands me better than you!
First of all, the process has not yet been decided as a title that both sides agree on. The PKK/Ocalan calls it the peace process and democratization of society! However, the Turkish state officially and in the media call the process a “terror-free Turkey” project. This is a very important point to understand from the essence.
After the PKK entered the process at Ocalan’s request and announced its dissolution at a special congress in May this year, insisting that the PKK as an armed force had finished its work! The PKK congress was based on a lengthy statement sent by Ocalan to the PKK leadership in April.
In the statement, Ocalan said many things, mostly an intellectual view and the other part is related to the rejection and strong criticism of all movements and liberation movements of the Kurdish nation in all parts of Kurdistan except the PKK. Although he has directed some of his harsh criticisms at some of the PKK leaders, saying that they do not understand him, Devlet Bahçeli understands me better than you!
Despite the ceasefire, the Turkish army carried out 1,678 attacks on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) border areas in the first six months of this year, according to the CPT. As a result, nine civilians were killed in the first six months of this year.
Finally, the PKK decided to comply with Ocalan’s call on July 11, 2025. An armed group burned their weapons in Jasana Cave in Surdash area of Sulaymaniyah province! On the same day, an official spokesman for the ruling AKP said, “The disarmament of the PKK is general and must cover all its branches,” referring to the PKK wings in Syria and Iran.
Some Kurds are optimistic about the situation in Turkey, but what kind of optimism! Because the other end of the process is still unclear and very vague and not everyone can judge it, because there are two main parties in the process: the PKK and the Turkish state. The PKK is in a hurry to meet the conditions before getting any guarantees, but Turkey is moving slowly with the process.
Another interesting point of the process is that there is no official third party. This is questionable because it is difficult for a peace process to succeed without a third party.
Finally, what is interesting to me are the readings that are very optimistic about the process, because what is seen is that some of the PKK itself does not seem happy with the situation, but they are following the message of someone like Ocalan. If the process fails, this time it may end up with more damage to the Kurds than ever before.