In a recent interview with Erem Kansoy of Medya News, Lorena Lopez, President of the European Free Alliance (EFA), expressed strong support for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s renewed call for peace and democratic negotiations in Turkey. Lopez emphasised that Öcalan’s message marks a critical opportunity for both Turkey and the European Union to move towards a peaceful resolution to longstanding conflict.
Öcalan, currently imprisoned on Imrali Island, recently conveyed through DEM Party representatives his willingness to facilitate negotiations if the proper conditions are provided. Lopez welcomed this as a “clear statement to dissolve the PKK, to lay down arms and to work for peace.” She stressed the significance of the timing and substance of Öcalan’s message, calling it a “window of opportunity” not only for Turkey, but for the entire region.
However, Lopez was sharply critical of the European Union’s current focus on militarisation and security in the face of ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza. “The EU is failing in its duty to support peace,” she said, accusing the Commission, under Kaja Kallas, of neglecting efforts to encourage democratic progress in Turkey.
“Peace is the cornerstone of democracy. If we end conflicts, we also address issues like migration and energy insecurity.”
Lopez highlighted a passage from Öcalan’s statement calling for “respect for identities, free self-expression and democratic self-organisation,” aligning it with European values of coexistence and human rights. She called on the EU to reflect these values in its foreign policy, particularly by supporting democratic reform in Turkey and engaging positively with the Kurdish question.
The EFA President also urged the EU to remove the PKK from its list of terrorist organisations, stating that there is a “clear will” from Öcalan and the DEM Party to pursue peace. She emphasised the need for a legal framework for disarmament and urged European institutions to help facilitate credible and lasting negotiations. “We need to stabilise the process,” Lopez said. “This is not about time—it’s about results.”
Lopez praised the DEM Party’s continued commitment to peace, despite the imprisonment of key leaders like Selahattin Demirtaş. She stressed that real progress requires courage and generosity from all sides, especially from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“The isolation of Öcalan must end,” she said. “He should be free to participate in peace talks directly.”
In closing, Lopez reaffirmed her belief that a peaceful, democratic future is possible if both Turkey and Europe commit to meaningful action. “With peace we win, with wars we always lose,” she said.
The full transcript of the interview is below, lightly edited for clarity.
Erem Kansoy, Medya News: The only European political party for self-determination, European free alliance, EFA, President Lorena Lopez, thanks for joining us today.
Lorena Lopez: Good morning, thank you very much.
Thank you, Lorena, as you know the agenda in Turkey and in the Middle East as well now – Öcalan’s message for democracy and peace – so I would like to start that one first. So as you know, Kurdish leader Mr Abdullah Öcalan has been visited by DEM Party representatives and also Mr Öcalan’s message was very clear and to the point. ‘If the ground is prepared, I have enough power to bring the conflict to the peaceful negotiations table,’ he said. So how do you evaluate this message first and how important it is that Öcalan proves that he is always on the side of peace? How would you like to comment on that?
So, my evaluation is very positive because it is a clear statement to dissolve the PKK, to lay down arms and to work for peace.
So, this is very positive and the fact that it comes now, it is very positive too. The problem is that, well, the European Union is to be blamed for the moment for its inaction. The European Union with the new commissioner Kaja Kallas are concentrating on the contrary, they are concentrating on security and on rearming itself in front of two of the main wars now in Ukraine and in Palestine.
And Öcalan’s call for peace and democratic society goes exactly the other way around. We should be working for peace, we should be working for a better world and better societies for everybody. So what Öcalan has done is to really set, explain very clearly its will and now of course it requires both Turkey to act in democratic terms and provide the conditions for a good negotiation and the European Union also can do its part to help Turkey to improve its own democracy.
There is one paragraph in Öcalan’s statement that I find very, very interesting, which I will read out, which says, ‘respect for identities, free self-expression and democratic self-organisation 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’. And that is now necessary. It is necessary that as Erdoğan himself has put, because Erdoğan has said that this is a unique window of opportunity.
So it is a window of opportunity for Erdoğan first, for Turkey second, to work for coexistence, to work for a peaceful Turkey for all, but it is also an opportunity for Europe, because Europe should act based on its own values and the values of Europe are peace and coexistence precisely. So Europe should be there to support Erdoğan. Europe has been doing a lot of deals with Erdoğan’s government on migration, on energy.
So, but you know, peace is the cornerstone of democracy and peace is the cornerstone for the rest of the problems to be solved, because we have migration, because we have wars. So if we end with conflicts, then we won’t have migrations. We have problems with energy because also of the wars.
So, Europe needs to focus on peace. And when there is a determined will, both by Ocalan, by the political parties in Turkey, by Erdoğan as its prime minister, then Europe and Kaja Kallas should be there to work for peace. But as I say, it is for the moment very disappointing because they are both, the European Commission and the states, are concentrating on other conflicts without realising that we need to have a global perspective.
We need to realize that Turkey is very well positioned in this geographical place where Turkey is situated. It is a geostrategical territory. And Turkey has said, and Erdoğan has said several times, that he could mediate also in the Palestine conflict.
So, all the conflicts in a way end up being related, one with the others. So, we really need to have this whole perspective to try to go into the 30s. For the moment, we are in the 20s in this 21st century.
But we need to pave the way for the 30s to be years again of peaceful coexistence of all the peoples.
Thank you, Lorena. So, can we say that Öcalan’s message and call for democracy is not only for Turks and Kurds, also for the whole Middle East problems?
So, Öcalan has constantly been working since many years for democratic confederalism. And that means to work with society, for society, with a bottom-up approach involving people working for democracy. So again, we do need to build on democracy and democratic values.
And Ocalan is really at the forefront in the defense of women and women’s rights. Something that is not still well perceived and put into practice in Europe. Sometimes we, and very often, we need to learn lessons from you instead of us giving lessons to you.
So, I think that we do need to concentrate on that. As Ocalan says, we first need to work on democracy. And then, of course, everything will come.
This is what we did as Basques in Spain. We are supporting Sanchez’s government. He’s a socialist.
We are supporting him because we want a more democratic Spain that will respect our diversity, will respect us as Basques or Catalans or others. So, we also need a more democratic Turkey that can respect all the peoples that live in Turkey. When those peoples, as it is the case with Ocalan, PKK, and now all the parties in Turkey, they all want to work for coexistence.
Coexistence existed before. So now we need to pave the way for peace to come back to all our territories.
There is a role of Europe as well, which you underlined on the first question. So, what is the role that is played by the EU political system in the conflict on the Middle East, as well as on the Kurdish-Turkish question?
I know personally Pervin Buldan. And of course, we as European political parties, but the European Union, as I say, needs to help to stabilise this process.
We are starting, so we need to stabilise the process. We need to give credibility to Ocalan’s message. And that means, in the first instance, that Europe, the European Union, should remove the PKK from the list of terrorist organisations, because there is a clear will to stop and work for peace, first.
And second, when there is also a will for laying down arms, then the European Union should help the Turkish parties and other parties in the Turkish parliament, in the assembly, so that there is a legislation for disarmament. You need always a framework, a legal framework, so that whenever steps are done, then progress is stabilised, because otherwise you can promise something, even promise democracy or dialogue, and then as it happened in 2015, it was stopped. So now it is not a matter about time, how long is that going to take? It is a matter about results.
It is important to secure results and to help both Occalan’s team and the DEM Party itself, and Erdoğan’s team, to work for peace. I have to say that it is very positive to see that a party like DEM, with still many leaders in jail, like Demirtas, who started a peace process and is now in jail since 2016, nonetheless, now DEM party is again betting 200% for peace, and that means that we need generosity, we need respect to each other, we need commitment from both sides, and we need courage. We need courage, the courage from Ocalan is clear, courage from DEM is clear, because of all the people that still are in jail from DEM.
So now we need also the clear courage in practice from Erdoğan to set the democratic conditions for peace to progress.
So that was my last question as well. Ocalan and the PKK are now expecting a move, a positive move from Turkey, a step forward basically. So, what is your call to Turkey, and what is your message for Öcalan and his workspace to be prepared freely so he can participate in the peace process, because he is still in the Imrali island and he is still under isolation. So, what is your message to Turkey?
So, to Turkey, Turkey should follow other peace processes, and in all peace processes you need to have the other part in front.
So, it means that the isolation must end. Öcalan should be free to be able to participate fully in all the talks, to even be a guarantee not only for Turkey but also for the Kurdish population, because it is not the same to be in Imrali and send people to many cities to deliver Ocalan’s message. It would be much more interesting for Turkey and for Erdoğan to let Öcalan speak directly to its people, so that everybody comes into this move of willing the peace.
But for that, Erdoğan also needs to show that he is convinced that peace is possible in Turkey, and that peace is possible to be reached with Öcalan.
Thank you, Lorena Lopez, the only European political party for self-determination, Europe Free Alliance president. Thank you, thanks for joining us, and thank you for your valuable comments.
Thank you very much, and a lot of courage to everybody. Keep there, because in the end you will win. With peace we win, with wars we always lose.
Thank you.
