Peregraf- Abdullah Öcalan has called on Türkiye to urgently establish a legal framework for the Kurdish peace process, warning that delays risk deepening instability and undermining democratic reform.
Öcalan delivered the message during a meeting on Saturday with a delegation from the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) at İmralı Island Prison.
The delegation included Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly Pervin Buldan, MP Mithat Sancar, and lawyer Faik Özgür Erol.
"We Have No Time to Lose"
According to a statement released by the DEM Party delegation, Öcalan stressed the urgency of legally grounding the peace process.
"It is important that everything being done gains a legal foundation," he said.
"Remaining in a state of expectation and prolonging that expectation only produces risks. We have no time to lose."
Öcalan argued that a "framework law" could become the foundation for broader democratization in Türkiye and described democratic reform as a "vital necessity."
Warnings Over Regional Instability
Öcalan also linked the Kurdish peace process to wider instability across the Middle East.
He said the region remains "pregnant with every possibility," warning that rising nationalism and regional fragmentation could deepen conflict.
"Promoting nationalism and division in the Middle East and enlarging micro-nationalisms will cause harm," he stated.
He specifically referenced tensions involving Iran and Israel, saying regional states were becoming increasingly hardened.
Criticism of Turkish Democracy
The imprisoned PKK leader also criticized recent political tensions in Türkiye, including actions targeting the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).
"Can breaking down the door of a political party headquarters with a sledgehammer be something acceptable in a democracy?" Öcalan asked.
He argued that Türkiye's deeper crisis stems from what he described as the republic's failure to fully institutionalize democracy.
"There is no issue more urgent than strengthening the democratic character of the republic," he said.
From Armed Conflict to Political Process
Öcalan said the current initiative aims to move beyond decades of violence tied to the Kurdish issue and establish a democratic political process.
"This is the meaning of the integration of Kurds into the democratic republic," he stated.
"We are trying to overcome a situation in which the Kurdish issue has deadlocked for years."
Öcalan has been imprisoned on İmralı Island since 1999.
In February 2025, he issued an appeal calling on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to end its armed struggle, dissolve the organization, and pursue democratic political methods.
PKK Disarmament Developments
The statement comes amid a series of developments involving the PKK during 2025.
The PKK held its 12th Congress from May 5 to 7, 2025, in northern Iraq, following which the organization announced on May 12 that it had adopted what it described as "historic decisions" to dissolve its organizational structure and end its armed struggle, citing Öcalan's call.
On July 11, 2025, 30 PKK fighters publicly burned their weapons in a symbolic ceremony near Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's Kurdistan Region.
Two days before the ceremony, on July 9, Öcalan appeared in a video message from prison — released publicly for the first time in 26 years — reaffirming his call for an end to the PKK's armed campaign and urging fighters to proceed with disarmament.