Öcalan to make ‘historic call’ in coming days, pro-Kurdish DEM Party says

Duvar English

Tuncer Bakırhan, the co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, on Feb. 4 announced that jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Öcalan “is preparing (to make) a historic call in the coming days.”

Speaking during his party’s parliamentary group meeting, Bakırhan said, “Mr. Öcalan is preparing for a historic call in the coming days for a deep-rooted and permanent solution to the Kurdish question and for the construction of a democratic Turkey.”

“He will make this historic call in a short time. We attach importance to this call, we support it, we stand behind it. We call on the government to play its role in accordance with this historic call,” he added.

He also said, “Mr. (Devlet) Bahçeli is not the head of the executive. Erdoğan, the head of the executive, has a big step to take. It’s up to him now. Millions of people are waiting for democratization, we are waiting for confidence-building steps to be taken. Instead of stalling, go down in history as a brave leader. We are in favor of an equal life.”

A DEM Party delegation, consisting of lawmakers Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan, visited Öcalan in İmralı Island twice in the last two months. 

The meetings came after President Erdoğan ally, far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s surprise proposal to end the conflict between Turkey and the PKK, suggesting in October that Öcalan should announce an end to the insurgency at the Parliament in exchange for the possibility of his release from İmralı.

Bakırhan also said the process was supported by the public and the opposition, so “this historic opportunity should not be missed.”

After the meeting, he was asked by the reporters if Öcalan would make the PKK lay down arms. 

“I don't know the content. We don't know much about what is in it. There is a high probability that there will be similar things in this call,” he responded.

Öcalan has been serving a life sentence in a prison on the İmralı Island since his capture 26 years ago.

Turkey and its Western allies deem the PKK a "terrorist" group. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the fighting, which in the past was focused in the mainly Kurdish southeast but is now centered on northern Iraq, where the PKK is based.

One major development in the region has been the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria last month. Turkey has repeatedly said there would be no place for the Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara sees as an extension of the PKK, in Syria's future.