ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan on Sunday expressed deep concern over escalating tensions between Kurdish forces and state-affiliated forces in Syria, warning that they could jeopardize ongoing peace talks between his party and the Turkish state, and stressing that the problems in the neighboring country “can only be resolved through dialogue.”
A day after meeting the jailed PKK leader at Imrali Prison on Saturday, Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) on Sunday quoted Ocalan as stating that “all the problems in Syria can only be resolved through “dialogue, negotiations, and shared wisdom, and they must be addressed in this way.”
According to the DEM Party statement, Ocalan also indicated that he is ready to take on the responsibility of shifting the situation from confrontation to dialogue, “and in this regard, he reiterated his call for all actors and parties to play a constructive role and act with caution and responsibility.”
Of note, the DEM Party has been leading a peace initiative for over a year to resolve the four-decade-old standoff between the PKK and Ankara.
Ocalan’s remarks follow a statement by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - the de facto military force in northeast Syria (Rojava) - which on Saturday accused Damascus and aligned militant groups of attacking its forces as they prepared to withdraw from areas in eastern Aleppo and the Raqqa countryside.
The Kurdish-led forces said the escalation occurred despite the presence of an internationally sponsored truce agreement, which granted them “a 48-hour withdrawal period,” according to an SDF statement on X.
The SDF further accused Syrian authorities of capturing a number of their fighters, holding “the Damascus government and the international guarantor powers fully responsible for the safety and lives of our besieged fighters.”
The Syrian Arab Army’s Operations Command for its part, claimed on Sunday that “64 male and female fighters from the SDF” had “surrendered after being besieged by army forces” in the Raqqa countryside.
Of note, state-run Syrian media outlets have in recent days upped their anti-PKK rhetoric accusing the group of providing support to the SDF and affiliated Kurdish groups in Syria.
For his part, Ocalan was quoted on Sunday as warning that “the clashes and tensions in Syria” as “an attempt to sabotage the [peace] process.”
The PKK leader therefore reaffirmed his “commitment to the peace process and to a democratic society,” stressing the importance of advancing the process by taking the necessary steps.
Sharaa was in late January of 2025 appointed interim president. Since then Turkey has emerged as a key ally and partner of the new leadership in Damascus.
Following a swift offensive in early December, a coalition of opposition forces led by the then-dominant Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, toppled longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa was appointed interim president in late January 2025. Since then, Turkey has emerged as a key ally and partner of the new leadership in Damascus.
Ocalan in late February called on the PKK to lay down its arms and dissolve itself as a prelude to finding a political solution to the conflict, which has claimed nearly 40,000 lives.
In May, the group officially declared its dissolution and an end to its armed campaign, rebranding itself as the Kurdistan Freedom Movement, and in October, it announced the withdrawal of all its fighters from Turkey as part of its push for peace with Ankara.
For its part, Ankara in August established a parliamentary commission tasked with establishing a legal framework for the peace process between Ankara and the PKK.
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