site.btaTurkish Nationalist Leader Devlet Bahceli Says Abdullah Ocalan Should Call for Disarmament of Syrian Kurdish Militias

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli said that imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence on Imrali Island in the Sea of Marmara, should extend his call for disarmament to the Syrian Kurdish militias as well, according to the online edition of Hurriyet. Bahceli, a coalition partner of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is one of the key architects behind Turkiye’s counterterrorism strategy and the disarmament plan targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Bahceli argued that Ocalan’s appeal, known as “the Imrali call,” should not be limited to the PKK but should also encompass all branches of the separatist movement, including the Syrian Kurdish militias. He emphasized that Ocalan should issue a similar message to these groups, urging them to comply with the March 10 agreement signed with the government in Damascus.

Bahceli also suggested that, if necessary, a group of lawmakers should visit Imrali Prison to help facilitate the process, noting that unlike the PKK, which ceremonially burned its weapons on July 11, the Syrian Kurdish militias have yet to do the same.

Bahceli said the PKK’s founders and leadership should directly address the Syrian Kurdish militias with a message of identical tone and substance, calling on them to adhere to the March 10 accord. Strengthening and expanding the scope of Ocalan’s disarmament message, he added, could pave the way for further progress.

He reaffirmed his belief that a Turkiye free of terrorism would be “unshakable, strong, and secure,” describing such a future as “good news for a modern and prosperous Turkiye”. Bahceli concluded by saying that the country would overcome the problem of terrorism and “cut off the vein of division”, achieving harmony and justice through political, economic, and legal reforms.