There are hints at a potential delay in a message from imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, widely expected to be issued on Saturday. “There have been reports suggesting that the call could be made on 15 February. However, this may not be possible,” said Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları on Tuesday.
A reconciliation process addressing the century-old Kurdish question in Turkey and spearheaded by the government’s coalition partner far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli and the state itself, has been underway since last October. As part of this process, three visits have been conducted to Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı Island Prison. There has been significant anticipation that Öcalan would issue a historic call to peace around 15 February, a date that also marks the anniversary of his arrest in 1999 through an international operation.
Speaking after the DEM Party’s weekly group meeting at the Turkish parliament, Hatimoğulları attributed the delay to ongoing consultations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and other political actors. “Our delegation will conduct several visits to [Iraq’s] Kurdistan Regional Government, and both our delegation and party executive are involved in extensive consultations.” The delegation will meet with Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) officials, including KRI President Masoud Barzani, during these visits. Despite the potential delay, Hatimoğulları remains optimistic about the possibility of a historic call from Öcalan this month.
Hatimoğulları stressed that the DEM Party remains committed to a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish question. “We expect that any call from Mr Öcalan will focus on transferring this process to a legal and political framework,” she noted, criticising the Turkish government for maintaining Öcalan’s isolation in İmralı Prison. She argued that the lack of legal and political mechanisms hinders progress towards a resolution.
“There is broad societal and political readiness for peace,” she said, adding, “The political will, both of İmralı [Abdullah Öcalan] and of the opposition parties in Turkey, has reached a significant consensus on peace.” However, she accused the government of obstructing efforts to achieve this. “It is clear that the government is not ready. We reiterate our call for them to present a roadmap for a solution, for dialogue, and for the peace process,” Hatimoğulları said.
She also repeated that genuine peace requires mutual engagement and transparency from all political actors. Referring to recent political developments, she criticised certain actions by the Turkish authorities, that she argued undermine efforts for dialogue. “Today’s [police] operations against municipalities in İstanbul and the sentencing of the mayor of Van [Wan] municipality are disruptive to the dialogue process,” she said, calling on the government to respect democratic principles and open pathways for peace.
