Turkey
Zekeriya Yapicioglu, president of HUDA PAR, speaking at Erbil Forum on February 26, 2025. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah/Rudaw
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is expected to call on the group to lay down arms, a move a Kurdish politician believes will not only benefit Turkey's Kurds but also those living in the Kurdistan Region and northeast Syria (Rojava).
Zekeriya Yapicioglu, president of the Turkey-based Kurdish-Islamic HUDA PAR, said that the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan "with a strong possibility" will make a call soon and ask the PKK to lay down arms.
"Such a call is in the favor of all people in the region, especially Kurds," he at Erbil Forum 2025, claiming that the weapons in the hands of the PKK are the main obstacle before the resolution of the Kurdish issue.
Yapicioglu also said that a peace process in Turkey will also benefit Kurds living in the Kurdistan Region and Rojava.
A delegation of seven people are set to visit Ocalan on Thursday, which includes the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party’s (DEM Party) co-chairs and the veteran Kurdish politician Ahmet Turk, DEM Party spokesperson said on Wednesday.
In recent months, the DEM Party has been spearheading peace efforts between Ankara and the PKK. Earlier in February, a DEM Party delegation visited the Kurdistan Region and met with senior Kurdish officials, including Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, who then noted that the visit came at Ocalan’s request.
Speaking at the Erbil Forum 2025, Barzani stated that Ocalan’s message “is a peace message” and will be “delivered soon.” In his message, Ocalan “will call on the PKK to lay down arms and enter the political process,” the Kurdistan Region president elaborated.
Yapicioglu also stated that Ankara plans to take steps toward resolving the Kurdish issue, but there is no clarity on the matter. He noted that once the PKK lays down its arms, the remaining steps will be taken. The Kurdish politician stressed that treating armed and unarmed Kurds equally is a wrong policy.
Hopes of a renewed drive for peace in the country were boosted in October with ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli shaking hands with members of the DEM Party lawmakers in the legislature. Bahceli also proposed inviting Ocalan to address the Turkish parliament and declare the dissolution of the group - considered by Ankara to be a terror organization.
Yapicioglu expressed surprise upon seeing Bahceli, the leader of a Turkish ultra-nationalist party, initiate peace talks with the PKK, particularly when he invited Ocalan to speak in parliament.
A senior DEM Party official told Rudaw English on Wednesday that Ocalan's much-anticipated call will be made on Friday.
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