Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stated that global, regional, and domestic conditions provide an unprecedented opportunity for a resolution to the Kurdish conflict. However, he did not specify any concrete measures that the government would take to advance the process, maintaining a measured distance from the initiative.
Erdoğan’s remarks came in his Eid al-Fitr message on Sunday, where he referred to a call made by jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan a month ago, urging the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to disband. Despite no official steps taken by the state, Erdoğan insisted that the government had done its part by enabling the call to be made, and said that the PKK should comply unconditionally.
“We do not have unlimited time or patience. We expect the organisation to dissolve itself and give up arms without further delay,” he said, adopting a tone that stood in contrast to the more positive embrace of the process by his alliance partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli.
The absence of a concrete roadmap has drawn criticism from Kurdish politicians. Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan urged the government to take meaningful steps, saying, “Mr Öcalan has taken a courageous first step. Now it is the government’s turn to act.”
Meanwhile, on Monday, during Eid al-Fitr celebrations, delegations from Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the DEM Party engaged in reciprocal visits—their first formal meetings since 2015. An AKP delegation, led by the MP for Adıyaman (Semsûr), Resul Kurt, visited the DEM headquarters in Ankara, where they were received by Öztürk Türkdoğan, Yüksel Mutlu and Hüseyin Olan. Concurrently, DEM Party representatives Ayşegül Doğan, Onur Düşünmez and Zeyno Bayramoğlu visited the AKP headquarters, meeting with Belgin Uygur, Necmettin Erkan, Rukiye Toy and Abdullah Uçan.
At the DEM Party offices, Yüksel Mutlu highlighted the plight of mothers calling for peace, whose children are behind bars, saying, “This Eid, mothers seeking peace have children in prison—we are fighting for a tear-free holiday.”
In response, Resul Kurt remarked on the societal impact of Öcalan’s recent call for peace. “Öcalan’s call, backed by Bahçeli and Erdoğan, has found positive resonance in society,” he noted, stressing the need for peace and friendship over conflict. “This period demands peace and friendship over weapons.”
