Turkey
Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) . File photo: Anadolu Agency
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) who initiated peace talks between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), on Saturday welcomed Abdullah Ocalan’s call for the PKK to disarm and disband.
“The statement read to the public by the DEM delegation on February 27, 2025 and written in Imrali is valuable and important from beginning to end,” Bahceli said in a post on X.
A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) on Thursday shared with the public a letter from Ocalan, the leader of the PKK who is imprisoned on Imrali island. In the letter, he urged the group to disarm and disband. His message has sparked hope for an end to four decades of a conflict that has taken 40,000 lives.
The PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday.
Ocalan’s message was the culmination of weeks of talks between him and Turkish political parties mediated by the DEM Party and initiated by Bahceli who last year proposed that Ocalan should address the Turkish parliament and announce the dissolution of the PKK.
“The PKK terrorist organization, which held its first congress in Fis Village of Lice District of Diyarbakır on November 27, 1978 and aimed to establish a Great Kurdistan within the Marxist-Leninist framework, was called to dissolve its organizational structure by its founding leader after 47 years,” Bahceli said.
“It is now impossible to tolerate the arson and tampering with the Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood, and it is futile to pursue such a mistake,” he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Ankara is open to compromise and dialogue, but threatened to continue military operations “if the promises given are not kept.”
“The statement read to the public by the DEM delegation on February 27, 2025 and written in Imrali is valuable and important from beginning to end,” Bahceli said in a post on X.
A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) on Thursday shared with the public a letter from Ocalan, the leader of the PKK who is imprisoned on Imrali island. In the letter, he urged the group to disarm and disband. His message has sparked hope for an end to four decades of a conflict that has taken 40,000 lives.
The PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday.
Ocalan’s message was the culmination of weeks of talks between him and Turkish political parties mediated by the DEM Party and initiated by Bahceli who last year proposed that Ocalan should address the Turkish parliament and announce the dissolution of the PKK.
“The PKK terrorist organization, which held its first congress in Fis Village of Lice District of Diyarbakır on November 27, 1978 and aimed to establish a Great Kurdistan within the Marxist-Leninist framework, was called to dissolve its organizational structure by its founding leader after 47 years,” Bahceli said.
“It is now impossible to tolerate the arson and tampering with the Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood, and it is futile to pursue such a mistake,” he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Ankara is open to compromise and dialogue, but threatened to continue military operations “if the promises given are not kept.”
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