In the second episode of Medya News’s three-part podcast, Kurdish National Congress (KNK) spokesperson Nilüfer Koç and political analyst Kamal Chomani highlighted the international dimension of the ongoing Kurdish peace initiative and the broader implications of the dissolution of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) .
Koç cautioned against mischaracterising the ongoing Kurdish-Turkish peace talks as formal negotiations, noting that Turkey and the Kurdish movement are not currently engaged in a structured peace process akin to those seen in Colombia or the Philippines. Instead, she argued, what is unfolding is a unilateral democratic initiative by Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned founder of the PKK, aimed at laying the groundwork for peace through structural reforms in Turkey.
“Without democracy, there won’t be peace,” said Koç. “The Kurdish question is not just an ethnic issue; it’s the foundation of Turkey’s century-old anti-democratic state structure.”
Koç criticised Ankara’s framing of the Kurdish issue as a purely internal matter, pointing to Turkish military operations in northern Iraq (South Kurdistan or Başur) and northern Syria (West Kurdistan or Rojava) as evidence that the conflict is regional in scope. She argued that the refusal to accept third-party mediation signals Turkey’s desire to maintain the status quo, even as it faces increasing isolation in the Middle East.
“Turkey’s strategy of denial has not only regional but global implications,” she said. “The Kurds have prevented the spread of Turkish neo-Ottomanism in Iraq and Syria, and now they are offering peace. This time, the world must not remain silent.”
Koç stressed that Turkey is bound by its international commitments as a member of NATO, the United Nations and the Council of Europe and as a candidate for EU membership, despite Ankara’s rejection of international mediation. She called on European governments—especially those of Germany, France and the UK—to reconsider their military and diplomatic support for Ankara, which she said has contributed to the repression of Kurdish rights.
“The Kurdish question is not solely Turkey’s creation,” she added. “It is also the product of European colonial arrangements. Now Europe must decide whether it stands with militarism or with a democratic solution.”
She called for stronger grassroots mobilisation in Europe to pressurise governments to stop arms sales to Turkey and to support Kurdish demands for democratic transformation, ecological justice and women’s liberation.
Turning to Iraq, Kurdish political analyst Kamal Chomani outlined the potential impact of the PKK’s formal dissolution on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He noted that Turkey has maintained over 30 military bases in the region, claiming to target PKK militants, but that the end of armed struggle should remove Ankara’s pretext for its presence there.
“The withdrawal of Turkish forces could stabilise the region and improve ties between the Kurdish regional government and Baghdad,” Chomani said.
He also pointed to intra-Kurdish tensions, particularly between the PKK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which he described as increasingly aligned with Turkish interests. The PKK’s dissolution, he suggested, might ease the risk of conflict between rival Kurdish factions and strengthen more progressive political currents within the Kurdistan Region.
“The PKK’s ideas have appealed to progressives across Kurdistan. Now there’s a chance to build transnational Kurdish cooperation based on shared democratic values,” he said.
Chomani further argued that the peace initiative could help diffuse broader tensions, including among Kurdish diaspora communities in Europe and in war-torn Syria, where Turkish military operations continue under the justification of countering PKK influence.
“Rojava is a Syrian issue, not a Turkish one,” he noted. “Turkey’s presence in northern Syria is an occupation—and with the PKK stepping back, justification for that no longer holds.”
As peace efforts unfold, both speakers agreed that the burden of proof now lies with Turkey—and that international and regional actors must step up if the opportunity for a historic breakthrough is not to be lost.
