In this special episode of Medya News’ Political Dialogue podcast, Erem Kansoy hosts Jan van Aken, co-chair of Germany’s Left Party (Die Linke) and a steadfast advocate for Kurdish rights and democratisation in Turkey. Having achieved notable success in the most recent federal elections with over 12% of the vote, van Aken now lends his voice to an increasingly urgent political conversation—the opportunity for a lasting peace process between the Turkish state and the Kurdish movement.
“We have a historic opportunity right now,” van Aken notes. “The PKK has made a move. Now it is time for the Turkish side to follow.”
This is not van Aken’s first intervention in this historic moment. Just hours after Abdullah Öcalan’s 27 February message was made public—“If the ground is prepared, I have the power to lead the process to the negotiation table”—van Aken became the first European political leader to publicly welcome the call. In an exclusive interview with Medya News on 28 February, he demanded the delisting of the PKK in Germany, the release of Öcalan, and direct German involvement in peace negotiations. “Delisting the PKK would send a clear signal to Turkey that we in Europe are serious about peace,” he said. His stance even prompted a rare response from the German Foreign Ministry.
Van Aken emphasised in that earlier interview, and reiterates here, that international actors—particularly the EU and Germany—must play a proactive role. “What we need now is not pressure, but engagement. Germany and the EU must speak to both sides and push for genuine dialogue,” he explains. He argues that arms sales to Turkey should be halted and that future European cooperation with Ankara should be conditional on its commitment to peace.
In the current episode, van Aken builds on these points, speaking from his deep knowledge of global peace processes. He stresses that the next step must be confidence-building measures—from allowing Öcalan full communication rights to releasing political prisoners and declaring a ceasefire in conflict regions.
“Without Öcalan’s direct involvement, no peace deal will work. He must be able to communicate freely,” van Aken says.
He does not shy away from addressing the “dirty deals” between Germany and Turkey, including weapons sales and silence on Kurdish repression in exchange for stopping migrants. “The German government’s support for Turkey’s policies in exchange for refugee control is unacceptable,” he argues. “We must stop arms sales to Turkey until there is movement on peace.”
Van Aken also draws attention to the recent arrest of Kurdish politician Yüksel Koç in Germany, under articles of the German Criminal Code related to the PKK ban. He criticises this move as yet another example of how Germany’s outdated policy continues to criminalise Kurdish political actors at a time when dialogue and inclusion are needed more than ever.
“This arrest shows how out of step Germany’s policy is. We should be building trust, not putting Kurdish politicians in prison,” he states.
From Rojava’s experiment in democratic autonomy to the streets of Berlin, Jan van Aken makes a passionate and reasoned case for a peace process rooted in justice, inclusion, and international solidarity. “We need reconciliation, and that means talking to everyone—including Öcalan,” he concludes. Öcalan is currently held under conditions of aggravated isolation on İmralı Island, a high-security prison in the Sea of Marmara, where he has been imprisoned since 1999.
Here you are the full transcript of our interview with Jan van Aken:
Erem:
Mr. Jan van Aken, thanks for joining us today.
Jan:
Good evening. Thank you.
Dear Jan, as you follow, there is a historic development in Turkey. So according to that, first of all, I would like to ask about the Kurdish leader, Mr Abdullah Öcalan has been visited by DEM Party representatives and also Mr Öcalan’s message on 27 February was very clear and to the point. ‘If the ground is prepared, I have enough power to bring conflict to the peaceful negotiations table,’ he said.
How do you evaluate this message first and how important it is? And also, as you know, Mr Öcalan proved that he is on the peace side with this announcement. So how would you like to comment on that?
Yeah, I think that this announcement from Öcalan is really a historical event and it’s now the very, very big chance for peace process, not only for the Kurd or the Kurdish region, but for the whole region. And I have to say, I studied quite a lot of peace processes from the past, whatever, 20, 30, 40 years.
And they are not easy to get. It’s always difficult to get a peace process started. And now we really need a lot of political will to follow through with this peace process.
I think the situation now is the PKK started, now the Turkish side has to follow. And what we need is now a discussion on an equal level, both sides of the same level. And I think this is not possible while Abdullah Öcalan is in prison.
I mean, he is key to get a peace deal done. I’m very sure without Abdullah Öcalan’s involvement, there will be no peace deal in the end. And what I know from many, many different peace processes is no peace process is successful in the long run if not everybody is involved.
You need really to be inclusive. And so Abdullah Öcalan would need free communication with his people, with all his partners. And without a free communication, he cannot really negotiate a peace deal that is good for everyone.
So I think the first step is get him out of prison, at least give him free communication. And then let’s start with the discussion.
You already underlined what should be the next step. But just to make it a little deeper, I would like to ask you that Mr Öcalan and the PKK are now expecting a move from Turkey in a positive way, a step forward. So what is your call to Turkey and what is your message for Öcalan and his workspace to be prepared so he can freely participate in the peace process? Because the condition of Öcalan now is not making him available to participate perfectly in the process.
Yeah, I think we always have to be careful when we start a peace process. We should not have preconditions. So it would not be wise to say we only start the discussion if this and that happens. That usually stops all peace processes in the beginning.
But it’s very wise from the PKK to say we are ready, but now we wait for some confidence-building measures. And that’s very typical for peace process. So both sides say, yes, in principle, we agree to start discussions.
But without confidence-building measures, I mean, they usually are not getting anywhere. So what I would expect now, without making the precondition, but what I would expect from the Turkish state is a confidence-building measure. And that could be, for example, the release of political prisoners.
So if they release some or more political prisoners, it would make the other side comfortable that they really are honest in their approach to peace. And as I said before, with Abdullah Öcalan in solitary confinement with no free communication, there will be no peace process. That’s clear.
And another possibility of the Turkish state as a confidence-building measure would be a ceasefire. Stop the fighting, be it in Rojava, or be it in the Kurdish regions of the Turkish state. All this would build confidence between the parties and would make a peace process easier.
Thank you. Also, I would like to talk about the EU and EU’s position as well. What is the position of the European Union for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish-Turkish issue? And in this context, do you think the EU has a stance supporting for the peace?
I mean, I think the EU and Germany, they could have a very critical, important role in the peace process.
And I would say, yes, in their Sunday morning speeches, German politicians from the government would say, yes, it’s a very good thing if a peace process starts. But so far, they are not doing much to support the peace process. They are very uncritical towards the Turkish government.
And I think one key point for Germany and the EU is to change their stance towards the PKK. The PKK is not a terrorist organisation here in the European Union. And I think the prohibition of the PKK should be lifted.
I mean, we just had this week, we had a case in Germany where a prominent member of the Kurdish movement was imprisoned because they say he belongs to PKK. PKK is deemed a terrorist organisation. And I think we have to change this.
What we really need now, and that’s the aim also of Abdullah Öcalan’s move, is we need reconciliation. Reconciliation between the Kurds and the Turks in Kurdistan, in Turkey, but also here in Germany, in the European Union. And as long as we have a prohibition of the PKK, there will be no peaceful reconciliation. So it’s a key step.
Just because you just mentioned the Kurdish activists have been arrested in Germany, I would like to ask you this question in order. The German federal government reportedly does not plan to change its policy of recognising the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
What steps should be taken to change this definition, basically? Because raids, trials and detentions against Kurds are still ongoing in Germany. And also, regardless of this question, for example, as you underlined, recently in Germany, Kurdish activist Yüksel Koç was arrested under the law 129b. So how would you like to answer that one?
Yeah, as I said, I mean, we have to lift this prohibition of the PKK. Right now, the only way to get there is we need pressure from within Germany. We, as the left party in Germany, we’re always calling to make the PKK a legal entity in Germany, in the European Union. But I think we also need pressure from other European countries.
I think Germany is especially hard on this position. And I think we need activists in other European countries to pressure their government to bring it to the European Union table. And then we need to build up the present Germany to at least be silent and not vote against it.
And then we would have won something.
Thank you. Also, still about Germany, so our audience can understand the German position much more deeper. What role is played by the German political system in the conflict in the Middle East as well as on the Kurdish question? As you know, the refugee crisis of Europe still continues. Still there is arms deals with the Middle Eastern companies. So what is the role of the Germany in a political way in the Middle East?
Middle East is a big thing. The smallest thing, what is the stance of the German government on the Kurdish issue? And it’s a very bad one, because Germany is very, very closely aligned with the Turkish government. Whatever this government is doing, the Germany stands very close by Erdoğan and his allies in Turkey. I never understood it clearly, because I mean, what the Kurdish movement did in Rojava, you know, safe determination, democratic peace processes in Rojava.
It’s something the German government always asked for in the Middle East. Now Rojava, they did it. They showed that it’s possible in the Middle East.
And there’s zero support, because the only support of the German government is for the Turkish government. It’s wrong. I think there should be a much more democratic approach in the region.
And I think the German government should put more pressure on the AKP government in Turkey, for example, stopping the weapons deliveries to Turkey, and to put pressure on Erdoğan to change the stance towards the Kurds.
Thank you. That was the next question, actually, I would like to ask it, because it’s important – what should be the role of Germany on Turkish-Kurdish peace negotiations and also in the wider region in the Middle East conflict, basically.
As you know, still one of the biggest arms trader to Turkey is Germany. It’s the company called Rheinmetall. So these arms has been used in with the chemical weapons as well, towards the civilians as well.
But nothing has been done, and there is no reaction from Europe or from Germany. Do you think this is a dirty deal with Turkey or it’s just the allies, Germany and Turkey allies in a historic way?
That’s the reason still these conflicts continue. I think it’s both. It’s historical allies, and it’s a dirty deal. And we have to fight both of them. We have to be careful.
I mean, there’s a lot of Rheinmetall weapons in Turkey. But the chemical weapons that have been used, as far as I know, have no direct or indirect connections towards Rheinmetall. But that’s a very minor issue.
What’s clear is the German government supports the war, the Turkish government fights against the Kurds with its weapons. We saw German tanks invading Rojava a couple of years ago. So we need to change this.
And so the historical ally is one issue, but also the dirty deal. Turkish government stops migrants before they come to Europe. And that’s why the German government is silent about the Kurdish issue.
Thank you. Following the call of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, the PKK announced its decision to dissolve with historic decision. So different circles are now emphasizing that the Turkish state should take a positive and confidence building steps, as we talked before, that will strengthen the peace process.
What would you like to say about this? What is your call and message to the Turkish state and Erdoğan administration regarding this?
As I said before, you need confidence building measures. One step could be the release of political prisoners. Another one would be a ceasefire in certain regions, stop aggression in Rojava.
So any minor step, small step could build confidence and that could ease the peace process. Thank you so much.
If you would like to answer that one as well, we would be very proud because there will be a chance for you to maybe meet with Öcalan. And what would you like to tell him if you see him?
Yeah, thanks for initiating the peace process, I would say. And that I think he inspired one of the first democratic regions in the Middle East, and that is Rojava. And I think it was his inspiring book and his inspiring work that made this happen.
So I would say, yes, let’s work together for a peaceful transition in the Kurdish areas in all of the countries involved to have self-determination for the Kurdish people and for all the other people living in that region.
Mr. Jan van Aken, thanks for joining us and thank you for your valuable comments.
Thank you very much for having the opportunity here.
