Turkey
DEM Party delegation members attend a press conference in Istanbul, on February 27, 2025. Photo: Ozan Kose/AFP
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A delegation from Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party might visit northeast Syria (Rojava) amid intensified efforts for a peace process between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) with Abdullah Ocalan’s recent letter calling on the group to disarm and disband, a party lawmaker said on Monday.
Sirri Sureyya Onder, a Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MP who has visited Ocalan several times, told Turkish outlet Haberturk that Ocalan’s call applies to “everyone” when asked if it is valid for Kurdish forces in northeast Syria.
“Ms. Pervin [Buldan] and I might go to Rojava too,” Onder said, referring to the lawmaker that accompanied him in multiple visits to meet Ocalan.
The PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire with Turkey on Saturday, stating it agrees with the contents of Ocalan’s recent letter that called on the group to disarm and disband, but set a physical meeting with their jailed leader as a precondition to any successful peace process.
Ankara considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – the backbone of the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – as the Syrian front for the PKK. The SDF serves as the de facto army of Rojava.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) denied any negotiations between Ankara and the PKK, stressing that the armed group and its alleged affiliates in Syria must lay down their arms.
Sirri Sureyya Onder, a Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MP who has visited Ocalan several times, told Turkish outlet Haberturk that Ocalan’s call applies to “everyone” when asked if it is valid for Kurdish forces in northeast Syria.
“Ms. Pervin [Buldan] and I might go to Rojava too,” Onder said, referring to the lawmaker that accompanied him in multiple visits to meet Ocalan.
The PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire with Turkey on Saturday, stating it agrees with the contents of Ocalan’s recent letter that called on the group to disarm and disband, but set a physical meeting with their jailed leader as a precondition to any successful peace process.
Ankara considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – the backbone of the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – as the Syrian front for the PKK. The SDF serves as the de facto army of Rojava.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) denied any negotiations between Ankara and the PKK, stressing that the armed group and its alleged affiliates in Syria must lay down their arms.
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