PKK warns it could halt peace process with Türkiye without democratic reforms

The PKK has warned that the peace process built around its dissolution and disarmament could come to a halt unless Türkiye takes concrete steps toward democratic reform.

Cemil Bayık, a member of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union, said disarmament must be tied to the group’s entry into democratic political life and the integration of its members into Turkish society. The Turkish government calls the initiative “terrorism-free Türkiye.”

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The language used in the law is deeply flawed.

Bayık criticized the National Solidarity and Social Integration Law, known as the framework law, which parliament passed on Aug. 10 and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan approved on Aug. 18. He said the law marked a beginning but remained incomplete because it did not clearly explain its purpose or specify that laying down arms was linked to democratic measures.

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We have made clear on every occasion that this process is not limited to disarmament. It is important to spell out the democratic steps that disarmament requires, because arms will be laid down in order to enter a democratic political arena.

“The language used in the law is deeply flawed,” Bayık said in remarks to the PKK-linked Firat News Agency carried by Turkish media. “We have made clear on every occasion that this process is not limited to disarmament. It is important to spell out the democratic steps that disarmament requires, because arms will be laid down in order to enter a democratic political arena.”

The law provides for deferred sentences, suspended prosecutions and the conditional return of PKK members who surrender their weapons. But information cited in the report indicates that 230 senior figures would be excluded from returning and could instead be housed in a safe zone in Sulaimaniya, northern Iraq. Bayık also said the status of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and senior cadres must be resolved, along with the rights of Kurds to recognition of their existence, language, culture and political will, and their right to local self-government.

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If the process falters because democratic steps are absent, the responsibility will lie with the Turkish government.

“If the process falters because democratic steps are absent, the responsibility will lie with the Turkish government,” Bayık said. “If this process does not advance through democratic steps, it will be obstructed, and the government will bear responsibility.” He said parliament would be the decisive institution in resolving the Kurdish issue through constitutional and legal amendments.

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If this process does not advance through democratic steps, it will be obstructed, and the government will bear responsibility.