YPG not exempt from Ocalan’s message: Bahceli

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), said on Sunday that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) is not exempt from Abdullah Ocalan’s call to dissolve.

“Claims that YPG and similar terrorist formations are exempt from this call, and the sharing of these unfounded views by dissenters, is completely contradictory to the nature of organizational and founding leadership,” Bahceli said, adding, “The February 27th Imrali call clearly links the PKK terrorist organization with all its extensions and groups.”

Turkey claims that there are Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members within the ranks of the YPG, the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Ankara has designated both as terrorist groups.

The PKK has repeatedly said that it has no presence in Rojava, and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi has also repeatedly said that the PKK no longer exists in Rojava.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in mid-January warned that the YPG will experience a “bitter fate” if they choose to remain operational and not disband.

A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) earlier this month shared with the public a letter from Ocalan, the leader of the PKK, who is imprisoned on Turkey’s secluded 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.

Bahceli initiated the peace process, which was mediated by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).

“Thanks to the prudent, calm, and consistent messages of the DEM Party, along with its commitment to maintaining stable steps, it will open the way for it to become a party of Turkey,” he said.

The MHP leader, who is known for his nationalist remarks and is Erdogan’s main ally in government, also stressed that the PKK must dissolve unconditionally.

“The separatist terrorist organization must act in line with the February 27th call of the founding leader and separate from weapons without any conditions, ending its organizational existence,” he explained, adding that “the terrorist organization has called for its own dissolution.”