Following Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s historic call for disarmament, top politicians from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI)—including President Nechirvan Barzani and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani—have endorsed the appeal, vowing to do “whatever it takes” to help achieve a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish question.
Öcalan issued the call for the dissolution of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and an end to armed Kurdish struggle on 25 February, made public two days later, advocating for a new phase of democratic reconciliation between Kurds and the Turkish state.
President Barzani, of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), reacted to Öcalan’s historic call on his official Facebook page, stating, “We hope that Mr. Öcalan’s call will strengthen the ground for peace and a peaceful solution. We are ready to play our role in making the process a success, no matter what it takes.”
“We hope that the next era, with the participation and consensus of other parties in Turkey, will be an era of peace and resolution, and that stability will spread throughout the country and the entire region,” Barzani concluded, emphasising that a lasting solution can only be achieved through democratic and civil struggle, not armed conflict.
Talabani expressed his party’s support for the “historical and timely message”, hailing it a crucial first step towards “a brighter and more peaceful future for our people”. He urged fraternity between Turks and Kurds, and called for all Kurdish regions to unite in taking “practical steps to achieve peace”.
The PUK leader concluded by citing former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who, as a mediator, helped broker a brief ceasefire between Kurdish forces and the Turkish state at the height of the conflict. “Do not miss this historic opportunity that President Mam Celal laid the foundation for in 1993,” he urged.
