Abdullah Ocalan has been in a Turkish prison since 1999 [Sedat Suna/Getty Images]
Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to declare the group’s armed struggle against Turkey over and called for a full transition to democratic politics.
In the recording, dated June and released by Firat News Agency, which is close to the PKK, Ocalan urged Turkey’s parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage a broader peace process.
“The phase of armed struggle has ended. This is not a loss, but a historic gain,” he said.
“The armed struggle stage must now be voluntarily replaced by a phase of democratic politics and law.”
The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades and is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, decided in May to disband after an initial written appeal from Ocalan in February.
Since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984 – originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state – the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, imposed a heavy economic burden and fuelled deep social and political divisions.
The video marks a rare and potentially pivotal moment in the long-running conflict, offering what could be President Tayyip Erdogan’s most significant opportunity yet to seal a political settlement to the Kurdish issue, should his government choose to respond.
It also comes before PKK militants begin handing over their weapons in groups in northern Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah on Friday, in a major step in the process.
Seated in a beige polo shirt with a glass of water on the table in front of him, Ocalan appeared to read from a transcript in the seven-minute video – the first public footage or audio of him since his arrest in 1999. Six other jailed PKK members sat beside him, all looking directly at the camera.
He said the PKK, which has been based in northern Iraq’s mountainous regions in recent years, had ended its separatist agenda.
“The main objective has been achieved – existence has been acknowledged. What remains would be excessive repetition and a dead end,” he said.
Ocalan added that Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the third largest in parliament and which played a key role facilitating the PKK’s disarmament decision, should work alongside other political parties to advance the peace process.
The PKK and DEM expect Ankara to address Kurdish political demands, potentially before weapons in Turkey are handed over.
Ocalan’s message came a day after Ibrahim Kalin, head of Turkey’s MIT intelligence agency, visited Baghdad for high-level meetings with Iraqi officials, the agency said. Kalin had earlier visited Erbil in northern Iraq as well.
Talks focused on strengthening border security and steps toward a “terror-free Turkey,” with the Iraqi government voicing full support for joint efforts to eliminate armed groups from the region.
