On 24 March, in a comprehensive one-hour interview with Medya Haber TV, Besê Hozat, co-chair of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), addressed the political implications of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s 27 February declaration advocating for peace and democratic transformation. Hozat argued that the Turkish government’s failure to respond constructively reflects a broader unwillingness to pursue genuine democratic reform. She warned that without immediate institutional change, including direct engagement with Öcalan, the Kurdish question will remain unresolved and the broader democratic crisis in Turkey will deepen.
Hozat asserted that any credible peace process hinges on ending Öcalan’s long-standing isolation in İmralı Prison, where he has been held incommunicado for the last four years of his 26-year imprisonment.
“The conditions for dialogue must be built on mutual respect and legal legitimacy,” she said. “Without creating a democratic and legally protected space, disarmament cannot even enter the conversation—nor can any decision-making proceed without Öcalan’s leadership.”
She pointed to the extraordinary scale and symbolism of Newroz 2025, describing it as a historic show of mass support for Öcalan’s call. Across Kurdish-majority regions of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, and the diaspora, millions gathered in what she called a de facto referendum on his leadership and vision. “This year’s Newroz was a collective, public affirmation of a shared demand for Öcalan’s freedom and the democratic resolution of the Kurdish issue,” Hozat remarked.
Hozat, representing the KCK—an umbrella organisation uniting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and affiliated women’s and youth movements, criticised the Turkish Justice Minister’s dismissal of the ‘Right to Hope’—a principle related to the possibility of eventual release—as legally invalid. Such dismissals, she argued, undermine the state’s credibility and signal an entrenched resistance to reform.
“Law is not sacred scripture; it evolves to meet historical necessity,” she said. “If the state were serious about peace, it would act accordingly and amend the necessary legislation.”
She called for the immediate establishment of a parliamentary commission empowered to initiate legal reforms, specifically ones that would allow Öcalan to communicate directly with the Kurdish movement and participate in strategic decisions. This includes the possibility of convening a congress to discuss the future of the PKK, and the broader transition to peaceful political engagement.
“It is not possible to hold a PKK congress or make any fundamental decisions about the future of the movement without Öcalan’s active, direct involvement,” Hozat asserted. “His foundational role is not symbolic but structural—he is essential to any legitimate transformation.”
Hozat’s comments align with recent statements by other leading figures in the KCK, including Duran Kalkan, Mustafa Karasu and Murat Karayılan, who have all emphasised that Öcalan’s leadership is indispensable to the peace process. They have also urged the Turkish government to enact the legislative changes needed to create free and open conditions for his engagement.
On the domestic political front, Hozat characterised the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu as a continuation of the Erdoğan administration’s campaign to suppress opposition forces. She described it as part of a broader civil coup strategy designed to dismantle democratic institutions through legal manipulation and political coercion. “A society under siege cannot foster democracy,” she said. “The first step toward peace must be a commitment to democratic norms.”
She identified the government’s longstanding tactic of dividing and marginalising dissenting voices as a key obstacle to democratic development.
“By weakening the opposition through fragmentation and repression, the regime ensures its own survival at the expense of public will,” Hozat said. She called for broad-based democratic unity across party lines, social groups, and regions.
Addressing foreign policy, Hozat linked Turkey’s military presence in Syria and recent attacks against Alevi communities to its domestic authoritarianism. She accused the Turkish state of transplanting its repressive model across borders, using sectarian violence as a tool of regional dominance. “Turkey is not merely involved in Syria—it is attempting to remake it in its own image,” she said.
She condemned the recent massacre of Alevi civilians in northern Syria as a war crime and charged Turkey with direct complicity.
“From proxy militias to air strikes, Turkey has coordinated a campaign of violence that targets religious and ethnic minorities,” Hozat said. “These actions constitute systematic violations of international humanitarian law.”
Hozat also criticised Turkey’s role in shaping Syria’s draft constitution, arguing that it reflects a vision of centralised, monolithic governance that excludes Kurds, women, and minorities.
“The proposed charter is not a democratic roadmap but a continuation of top-down authoritarianism. It denies the pluralism that democracy requires,” she said, urging international actors to reject the draft and support a genuinely inclusive political process.
Hozat argued that the internal situation in Turkey and the broader regional context are inseparable. She described the ongoing conflict in Kurdish-majority regions as a genocidal war that structurally precludes democratisation in Turkey. “So long as the Turkish state wages a war of erasure against the Kurds, democracy cannot take root—not in the region, nor in Turkey as a whole,” she stated.
“The fate of democracy in Turkey and the democratic resolution of the Kurdish question are fundamentally intertwined,” Hozat continued. “They are not separate processes, but two expressions of the same structural transformation. What happens in Kurdistan shapes the future of Turkey.”
The interview comes amid renewed public discourse on the future of the peace process, following Öcalan’s statement. While some opposition parties, notably the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, have welcomed the call, Hozat expressed concern over the lack of cohesive support among other political actors.
“We stand at a critical juncture,” she concluded. “There remains a window of opportunity to create a democratic and peaceful future, but it is closing rapidly. Without concrete, immediate steps from Ankara, the hopes expressed so powerfully during Newroz risk fading into disillusion.”
