ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A lawmaker from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has said Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), must play a direct role in implementing a new peace framework that could pave the way for thousands of fighters, prisoners and exiles to return to Turkey.
“For this law to take effect and be implemented within a 6-month period, Abdullah Ocalan himself must step in,” Cengiz Candar, a lawmaker representing Diyarbakir (Amed) from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), told Rudaw's Rawin Sterk on Saturday.
The framework law, approved by 467 lawmakers in mid-August, establishes a legal basis for the next phase of the process aimed at ending the decades-long conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK, transforming the Kurdish freedom movement in Turkey from an armed struggle into a political one.
Nearly two years ago, the PKK and Ankara initiated a peace process that has largely stayed intact despite slowness and distrust.
Candar estimated that more than 5,000 PKK guerrillas, between 3,900 and 4,000 prisoners facing PKK-related charges, and over 10,000 people living in exile could fall within the law’s scope.
Under the proposed mechanism, eligible individuals would have six months to apply once the legislation takes effect, opening the way for their return and legal integration. However, Candar emphasized that processing such a large number of cases would require extensive coordination.
The law’s implementation hinges on Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) determining and confirming the PKK’s disarmament. According to Candar, the council must submit its determination to the president before the legislation can be signed and published in the Official Gazette.
He said the MGK was expected to convene on November 27, with developments anticipated ahead of the meeting.
Trust remains a major obstacle
Despite the legal breakthrough, Candar warned that public distrust remains a significant impediment to the process, citing decades of disappointments surrounding the Kurdish issue.
“The process needs trust and societal experience,” he said, adding that although Kurdish society broadly supports peace, uncertainty persists over whether the state will deliver tangible results.
“All Kurdish people support this process. There is a desire for peace to occur, for the process to succeed and conclude. But when you ask whether there will be trust or not, that is where people hesitate,” he said.
Candar identified the release of Prominent Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas as a crucial confidence-building measure.
“Until Selahattin Demirtas returns to society as a free individual, doubts will remain over whether the process will be brought to a positive conclusion by the state,” he said.
DEM Party’s role and political outlook
Candar said the DEM Party was not a direct intermediary between Ocalan and the state, noting that the two sides maintained their own channels of communication. Instead, he said, the party’s principal responsibility was to explain the process to Kurdish society and build public support.
He also pointed to Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli’s calls for Ocalan to assume a defined role in the process, potentially coordinating efforts toward peace and political integration.
However, Candar cautioned that restrictions on media, social media and municipal administrations, alongside Turkey’s economic difficulties, could undermine progress.
He further linked the process to prospective constitutional changes, identifying Articles 42 and 66 of Turkey’s constitution, concerning education and citizenship, as central to the DEM Party’s demands for mother-tongue education and equal citizenship rights.
“If Erdogan gives such a promise, this matter can be considered, because the definition of citizenship and mother-tongue education are crucial for the future of the process,” Candar said.
