PKK Warns Peace Process To Be Stalled Until Turkey Releases Abdullah Ocalan
“All the steps the leader Apo [Abdullah Ocalan] has initiated have been implemented… there will be no further actions taken,” Malazgirt said. “From now on, we will be waiting for the Turkish state, and they have to be the ones taking steps.”
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A senior commander of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has stated that the group will not take additional steps in the ongoing peace process with Turkey unless Ankara advances in the negotiations, including by releasing PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan.
Speaking to AFP from a bunker in the Qandil mountains on Saturday, PKK commander Amed Malazgirt said the movement had fulfilled all commitments initiated by Ocalan.
“All the steps the leader Apo [Abdullah Ocalan] has initiated have been implemented… there will be no further actions taken,” Malazgirt said. “From now on, we will be waiting for the Turkish state, and they have to be the ones taking steps.”
Malazgirt outlined two key demands from the PKK for progress in the peace process: the release of Ocalan and the constitutional and official recognition of the Kurdish people in Turkey.
“First, the freedom of leader Apo. Without this, the process will not succeed,” he stated. “The second is the constitutional and official recognition of the Kurdish people in Turkey.”
The peace process, revived as part of broader efforts to end decades of conflict, began after Ocalan urged the PKK to halt its armed struggle. In response, PKK fighters began withdrawing from Turkish territory, while the Turkish parliament established a cross-party commission to oversee negotiations and draft related legislation.
