Peregraf
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani has expressed his strong support for Abdullah Ocalan’s recent message calling for the disarmament and self-dissolution of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
In an official statement, Barzani described Ocalan’s call as a significant step toward peace and urged the PKK to heed the message. He emphasized that the era of armed struggle has passed and that peaceful, democratic methods are the best path toward achieving Kurdish rights.
“We warmly welcome Mr. Ocalan’s message and his call for the disarmament and dissolution of the PKK. We call on the PKK to abide by the message and implement it. We hope that this call will pave the way for peace and a peaceful solution. Of course, it is the time of peaceful, civil, and democratic struggle, through which better results and achievements will be achieved, not through weapons and violence,” Barzani stated.
The KRI President reaffirmed his government’s commitment to supporting the peace process and expressed readiness to contribute to its success. He also praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling AKP for their efforts in pursuing peace since coming to power.
“We hope that the next stage will be a successful stage of peace and solution with the participation and solidarity of other parties in Turkey and that peace and stability will prevail in the country and the entire region,” Barzani concluded.
The statement comes amid renewed discussions on resolving the Kurdish issue in Turkey, with various parties closely watching how both the PKK leadership and the Turkish government respond to Ocalan’s message.
Ocalan’s FULL STATEMENT:
Call for Peace and Democratic Society
The PKK was born in the 20th century, in the most violent epoch of the history of humanity, amidst the two World wars, under the shadow of the experience of real socialism and the cold war around the World.
The outright denial of Kurdish reality, restrictions on basic rights and freedoms - especially freedom of expression - played a significant role in its emergence and development.
The PKK has been under the heavy realities of the century and the system of real socialism in terms of its adopted theory, program, strategy and tactics. In the 1990s, with the collapse of real socialism due to internal dynamics, the dissolution of the denial of Kurdish identity in the country, and improvements in freedom of expression, led to weakening of the PKK´s foundational meaningfulness and resulted in excessive repetition.
Throughout the history of more than 1000 years, Turkish and Kurdish relations were defined in terms of mutual cooperation and alliance, and Turks and Kurds have found it essential to remain in this voluntary alliance to maintain their existence and survive against hegemonic Powers.
The last 200 years of capitalist modernity have been marked by primarily with the aim to break this alliance. The forces involved, in line with their class-based interests, have played a key role in furthering this objective.
With monist interpretations of the Republic, this process has accelerated. Today, the main task is to restructure the historical relationship, which has become extremely fragile, without excluding consideration for beliefs with the spirit of fraternity.
The need for a democratic society is inevitable. The PKK, the longest and most extensive insurgency and armed movement in the history of the Republic, found social base and support, and was primarily inspired bythe fact that the channels of democratic politics were closed.
The inevitable outcome of the extreme nationalist deviations - such as aseparate nation-state, federation, administrative autonomy, or culturalistsolutions - fails to answer the historical sociology of the society.
Respect for identities, free self-expression, democratic self-organization of each segment of society based on their own socio-economic and political structures, are only possible through the existence of a democratic society and political space.
The second century of the Republic can achieve and assure permanentand fraternal continuity only if it is crowned with democracy. There is no alternative to democracy in the pursuit and realization of a political system. Democratic consensus is the fundamental way.
The language of the epoch of peace and democratic society needs to be developed in accordance with this reality.
The call made by Mr. Devlet Bahceli, along with the will expressed by Mr. President, and the positive responses from the other political parties towards the known call, has created an environment in which I am making a call for the laying down of arms, and I take on the historical responsibility of this call.
As in the case with any modern community and party whose existence has not been abolished by force, would voluntarily do, convene your congress and make a decision; all groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself.
I convey my greetings to all those who believe in co-existence and who look forward to my call.
February 25, 2025
Abdullah Öcalan