DEM Party co-chair urges peace talks with jailed PKK leader Öcalan on Kurdish issue

Duvar English

The opposition Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan has once again pointed to jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan for the solution of the Kurdish issue.

Speaking to Mesopotamia News Agency, Bakırhan said, “Mr. Öcalan, who is the interlocutor and addressee of the issue, offers a project for a solution. He offers a model of a democratic nation, democratic republic, and equal life.”

“If we want to democratize the republic in its second century, we should immediately talk to Mr. Öcalan and start negotiations. While there is a will for a solution in İmralı (Island), this opportunity should be utilized. A peace and negotiation camp should be established in İmralı,” he said. 

He added “We are talking about an issue that is draining Turkey's energy and economy, impoverishing the society, eliminating democracy and freedoms. Look, we are talking about an issue that has seen 13 presidents and over 40 prime ministers. Is there anything more valuable than going down in history as the one who solved an issue that has made history?”

At the start of October, government figures, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) started making seeming efforts regarding the Kurdish issue. 

In one of the surprising moves, Bahçeli, who previously called for the closure of the DEM Party on several occasions, invited Öcalan to announce the dissolution of the PKK at the Parliament in a surprising move.

Öcalan has been kept in isolation for 25 years in F Type High-Security Prison on İmralı Island in Bursa, serving an aggravated life sentence. His contact ban with his family was recently lifted after 43 months.

Meanwhile, the government appointed trustee mayors to replace three DEM Party mayors in the same time.

Bakırhan said even though they have different approaches with Bahçeli on how to solve the issue, the latter “has correctly identified the interlocutor of the Kurdish issue,” who is “Öcalan.”

Despite all these, “Bahçeli and Erdoğan do not yet have a program and policy to solve the Kurdish issue. On the contrary, we encounter practices that make the issue even more unsolvable,” he added.

The PKK launched its first attack in 1984 and the 1990s saw intense conflict between the PKK and Turkish Military especially in the country's southeastern region. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government started to take steps regarding the Kurdish question in 2009 and initiated a "peace process" between 2013 and 2015 with the armed organization.

Nonetheless, the peace process failed in 2015 and an intense armed conflict erupted in southeastern Turkey until 2016. Dozens of civilians died and many cities were demolished during the period.