site.btaPKK Disarmament Process Begins: Key Step Towards a “Terror-Free Turkiye”

The “Terror-free Turkiye” process, which started in 2024 on the initiative of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ally Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has received a new boost and entered its final phase, Turkish media report.

On July 6, a delegation of the pro-Kurdish DEM party, made up of Kurdish MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar and lawyer Faik Ozgur Erol, met and talked with Abdullah Ocalan, the founder of the recognised terrorist group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), on the prison island of Imrali in the Sea of Marmara. During the meeting, Ocalan made important statements, the DEM said in a release.

Presumably, given the importance of the issue, Erdogan brought forward his meeting with the DEM delegation, originally scheduled for Tuesday, by a day and it took place on Monday at the presidential palace in Ankara.

“We had a fruitful and constructive meeting in which Turkiye’s counter-terrorism plan was among the important topics. We are entering a period in which we expect good news in the coming days," Erdogan told the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) activists, and his speech was also circulated on social media.

It was at this time that the pro-PKK Firat news agency aired a video address by Ocalan, the first time this had happened since 1999. In it, Ocalan stated that he “continues to support his call of February 27, 2025, for a peaceful and democratic society.”

Turkiye’s pro-government A Haber television, on the other hand, showed for the first time panoramic footage from Imral Island, where Ocalan has been serving a life sentence since 1999. 

At the same time, however, the majority of the pro-government media continue to use the qualification “terrorist PKK leader” for Ocalan.

A key component in the implementation of the “Terror-free Turkiye” process is the disarmament of the PKK. According to the Turkish authorities, the organization must surrender its weapons unconditionally and without any preconditions.

In the video address referred to, Ocalan stresses that “disarmament must be carried out in an open and transparent manner” in order to have weight with the Turkish Parliament and “to remove any doubts in the public and to show that we are honouring our commitment”. 

According to analysts close to the government, a countdown has in fact begun in the process of disarming the PKK.

There has been no official announcement from Ankara on the place and date when the first step in the disarmament of Kurdish fighters will take place. However, some sources, including the pro-Kurdish DEM party, indicate that the weapons will be handed over in an area in northern Iraq, the BBC's Turkish edition reports.

Unless something unforeseen happens, the start of this process should be marked at a ceremony on Friday.

According to other reports, the ceremony may be moved at the last minute to the Duhok area.

Initially, footage of the first PKK disarmament ceremony was planned to be broadcast live on some Turkish television channels, but the DEM leadership announced that the decision to broadcast live had been cancelled for security reasons and that journalists would not be allowed at the ceremony. However, the recordings will be made available to media representatives on site and will be shared with the public. This decision has been taken following the tragic incident a few days ago in which 12 Turkish army soldiers died of methane poisoning during a search and rescue operation in a cave in northern Iraq.

The ceremony is expected to be attended by a group of 15-20 people - responsible representatives of the DEM party, NGOs, as well as a group of 30 PKK fighters led by Duran Kalkan and Mustafa Karasu.

Allegedly, representatives of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), as well as the other opposition parties (with the exception of DEM), will not participate in the ceremony.

Some representatives of the DEM in statements to Turkish television channels indicated that the process of disarming the PKK would take several months. The governments of Turkiye and Iraq and the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan are expected to coordinate the establishment of disarmament points to which the organization will hand over its weapons. It is also planned to set up a committee in the Turkish Parliament, which will start work after the opening of the autumn session.

“Turkiye is on a historic threshold. We are entering a new era. We are on the eve of a terror-free Turkiye. We have reached the end of a bloody process that has lasted half a century. God willing, in a few days we will receive very important news. Turkiye has been relieved of a great burden. The goal of a terror-free Turkiye will mark the century,” MHP leader Izzet Ulvi Yonter was quoted as saying by Haberler.