Jailed PKK leader Ocalan needs outside contact to dissolve group, pro-Kurdish politicians say

Ocalan wants meetings with Syrian and Iraqi leaders

Members of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party visit PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, centre, in jail. DEM / EPA

The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan needs better communication with the outside world to manage the militant group’s proposed disarmament and political transition, pro-Kurdish leaders in Turkey have said.

"Mr Ocalan will personally lead this disarmament process," Tulay Hatimogullari, co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, said in Istanbul on Wednesday. "Therefore, for him to work more comfortably on this matter, he wants to hold meetings with many groups in Turkey, the Middle East, Europe – in short, all over the world."

Ocalan, whose group is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the US, called on PKK members in February to lay down their arms and for the group to be dissolved. His call came after a months-long process initiated by an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the ultranationalist politician Devlet Bahceli, to offer greater freedom for Ocalan in exchange for the PKK’s dissolution.

Ocalan intends to transform the PKK into a political party based on “political internationalism”, Ms Hatimogullari said.

“After the weapons are laid down, how will the PKK cadres take on roles and missions in this regard? she said. "To discuss all of this and consult with others, it is necessary for him [Ocalan] to meet with everyone. We can evaluate this as a first step.”

Ocalan also wants to meet leaders in Iraq and Syria, both of which have large Kurdish populations with varying degrees of autonomous governance, she said. "He wants to meet both with representatives of the autonomous administration in northern and eastern Syria, and with representatives of the Damascus government. The same goes for Iraq and many other countries."

Kurdish politicians, who distinguish themselves from the PKK, are pushing for Turkey’s government to move faster in what they describe as a democratisation process aimed at peace. The Turkish government has framed it as an exercise in achieving a “terror-free Turkey”, following more than four decades of conflict with the Kurdish militant group.

“The fact that it is progressing slowly does not mean that it is deadlocked. I think it needs to be accelerated,” Ms Hatimogullari said.

Broadly, Kurdish politicians are calling for better prison conditions for Ocalan, who has been incarcerated on a remote island in the Sea of Marmara, south of Istanbul, since 1999. They want the formation of a parliamentary commission to solidify the process in law and to make recommendations for amendments to anti-terrorism legislation. They also want greater rights to use the Kurdish language and an end to curbs on Kurdish political activity.

Government officials have said little about how the PKK’s dissolution and disarmament will be managed and it is unclear to what extent they are willing to meet the DEM party’s expectations.

Supporters hold up a poster of jailed Kurdistan Workers' Party leader Abdullah Ocalan in Diyarbakir, south-eastern Turkey. AFP

The government seeks co-ordination with other parties for the process to succeed, Mr Erdogan said on Wednesday.

“We need co-operation and the development of the spirit of working together to easily reach the goal of a terror-free Turkey, whose strategic importance is understood,” he told MPs in Ankara.

The parliamentary commission needs to be functional, effective and results-driven, DEM co-chairman Tuncer Bakirhan said. The conflict between Iran and Israel adds more urgency, as Turkey needs to maximise its stability in the face of regional hostilities, he added.

The commission "must not just engage in debate; it should provide legal proposals to the parliament ... and ensure successful progress on this issue", he said. The DEM is pushing for the commission to start work before the Turkish parliament's summer break, he added.

The PKK agreed to heed Ocalan’s call and disband last month. Yet the process of laying down weapons and deciding the fate of its fighters is complex.

The PKK has conditioned laying down their weapons on “freedom” for Ocalan and are in contact with the Turkish government over the disarmament process, Ms Hatimogullari said.

Whether that means his release or the ability to hold consultations on the process from prison has not yet been established.

“Of course, the warring sides are already in contact with each other – this is happening outside the DEM party, outside of democratic politics,” she said. "Our view is that if steps are taken in this regard, the disarmament process will gain momentum very quickly. But as for how the dialogue between them will evolve in the upcoming period – we cannot predict that.”

The government has not confirmed it is in talks with the PKK over the disarmament. Turkish intelligence services would “closely monitor whether promises are kept” around dissolution, Mr Erdogan said last month.

Releasing Ocalan would be politically difficult for the Turkish government: the conflict with the PKK has killed 40,000 people across both sides, and the release of the man heading the group that forms Turkey’s number one national security issue would be unpopular.

DEM officials, who have been allowed to visit Ocalan several times in recent months, said his overall prison conditions have not changed, but he now spends less time in solitary confinement. He is able to meet up to three other prisoners, chosen by him and his lawyers, to hold “study groups”, said Ms Hatimogullari. "He is in quite good spirits."