DEM Party Rejects PKK Claim Peace Process Is 'Frozen'

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Recent statements by Murat Karayılan, a senior commander of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), regarding the status of the ongoing peace settlement process have generated strong reactions from the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and the İmralı delegation representing Abdullah Öcalan.

According to reporting by the DEM Party, officials rejected Karayılan's assertion that the process has been entirely halted.

Informed sources within DEM Party in Türkiye stated that using terms such as "freezing" the negotiations contradicts current diplomatic realities. The DEM Party and the İmralı delegation maintain that the current situation should be categorized as a "temporary stalemate" rather than a definitive termination of the talks.

The exchange highlights internal political friction over the trajectory of the peace process, which was formally initiated in late 2024.

The debate matters politically because it exposes differing strategic visions between the political representatives engaged with the state and the military leadership of the PKK.

The disagreement centers on whether the lack of scheduled meetings with Abdullah Öcalan at İmralı prison signifies a permanent collapse of the government's commitment or merely a procedural delay in an otherwise foundational initiative.

Mahfuz Güleryüz's Remarks

The DEM Party's stance was explicitly articulated by Deputy Co-Chair Mahfuz Güleryüz. According to the Istanbul-based Turkish left-wing daily BirGün and Ankara-based news agency Anka on Saturday, Güleryüz directly addressed Karayılan's claim that the process was frozen.

"We do not wish to use the expression that the process is frozen," Güleryüz said, according to BirGün. "There may be points of blockage, but characterizing the current situation as a 'process of blockage and freezing' would be an exaggerated approach."

Anka News Agency reported that Güleryüz emphasized the foundational strength of the initiative, noting that the process did not emerge by chance but followed a decade of suppression and Öcalan's perspective for a solution outside the nation-state model. 

"For that reason, I cannot speak of a process that we can say is 'finished or exhausted,'" Güleryüz stated, acknowledging that while there are "glitches" and "problems," declaring the process frozen runs contrary to its spirit.

Güleryüz also addressed the responsibilities of the state.

According to the Anka News Agency report, he noted that following Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's call for the PKK to lay down arms, the state must establish the necessary legal and statutory regulations.

"The interlocutor for all these questions is the state," he said, pushing back against claims that the DEM Party was improperly assigning tasks to the government.

Furthermore, Güleryüz highlighted the lack of direct communication with Öcalan as a primary source of the current blockage.

Anka News Agency reported him stating that Öcalan wishes to establish contact with the public using his own words to prevent manipulation.

Güleryüz confirmed that the expected second meeting with Öcalan, which was anticipated to yield a road map for the process, has not yet occurred, contributing to the stalled momentum.

Karayılan's Position

The responses from the DEM Party and the İmralı delegation followed specific claims made by the PKK military leadership.

According to ANF News, Murat Karayılan stated in an interview that the process had "effectively been frozen by the government."

Karayılan argued that the lack of contact with Abdullah Öcalan for more than a month following a comprehensive meeting on Mar. 27 was "not normal" and served as a warning sign.

According to ANF News, Karayılan claimed that decision-making authorities within the state had halted or postponed further steps despite the completion of a parliamentary commission report.

The ANF News report detailed Karayılan's assertion that the PKK had fulfilled all its responsibilities, including declaring a ceasefire on Mar. 1, deciding to dissolve the PKK during a May congress, and carrying out a weapon-burning ceremony in July. 

Karayılan stated that the government, in return, had taken no concrete or legal steps beyond administrative decisions.

Addressing demands for immediate disarmament, Karayılan said that laying down arms without legal guarantees would be "irrational" given the volatile security environment in the Middle East.

According to ANF News, he described the government's approach of demanding full disarmament before taking legal steps as "an imposition of surrender." Furthermore, Karayılan emphasized that without Öcalan's physical freedom, the process had no chance of advancing.

Debate Over the Political Process

The divergence between the DEM Party’s characterization of a "temporary stalemate" and Karayılan's declaration of a "frozen" process reflects the complex dynamics of the negotiations. 

According to the DEM Party, as reported, statements suggesting the process is frozen do not serve the atmosphere of dialogue and create obstacles to consolidating peace.

The new peace process began in Oct. 2024, leading to the PKK officially declaring a ceasefire and a decision to lay down arms in early 2025 following a call from Öcalan.

To manage the legal aspects, the Turkish Parliament formed the "National Unity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission."

The current debate underscores the tension between the political actors awaiting the implementation of the commission's legal framework and the military faction demanding immediate, concrete guarantees and restored contact with their leadership.