PKK looking to rebrand following dissolution: Senior member

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is holding key discussions on rebranding, a senior member of the group’s umbrella organization told Rudaw. The move follows the group’s dissolution announcement made in response to a call from its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

In mid-May, the PKK announced its dissolution and later temporarily renamed itself as the Kurdistan Freedom Movement. The group in early July held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in the Kurdistan Region’s eastern Sulaimani province.

The Turkish government later in July established a commission in parliament, consisting of most of the key political parties, to create the legal framework for the peace process with the PKK. The commission held its first meeting in early August and continues holding meetings with concerned parties.

More recently, in late October, the Kurdish group began withdrawing all its fighters from Turkey.

Zubeyir Aydar, a senior member of the Kurdistan Community Union (KCK) - the umbrella group of Kurdish parties spearheaded by the PKK - on Thursday confirmed to Rudaw that the party is in the process of rebranding. He clarified that the KCK itself has not been dissolved.

“The KCK and PKK have for a long time referred to themselves as the Kurdistan Freedom Movement. This is not new,” Aydar said during an interview in Brussels.

“Now, after the PKK’s dissolution, the movement is holding meetings and discussions about what name and what kind of organization should be established to fit the new era. Since a final decision has not yet been made, the comrades found it appropriate to use that name.”

Peace talks between the PKK and the Turkish state began late last year after Devlet Bahceli, leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, proposed that the PKK’s jailed leader, Ocalan, be allowed to address the Turkish legislature and declare his group’s dissolution. Bahceli also shook hands with pro-Kurdish lawmakers in the parliament.

Following the PKK’s May dissolution announcement, the group’s future remains uncertain. Many observers speculate that it may rebrand and seek to enter Turkish politics after formally ending its armed struggle.

Aydar emphasized that for lasting peace, Ankara must ensure broader Kurdish cultural and political rights. “Laws must change, the constitution must change. Just saying ‘Kurds exist’ is not enough,” he said.

“Kurds must be recognized in the constitution as a community. All Kurdish rights must be acknowledged. Kurds should be able to receive education in their language, which should have official status, and they must be free to govern and organize themselves and participate in politics.”

In recent decades, several pro-Kurdish parties in Turkey have been banned over alleged ties to the PKK, with some officials accusing them of serving as the Kurdish group’s political wing.

Aydar noted that other countries have successfully resolved similar conflicts, suggesting, “We can benefit from those experiences … We too can live freely,” he said, pointing to Iraq as an example.

During Iraq’s Baathist era (1968–2003), Kurds were denied cultural and political rights. However, post-2003 Iraq’s 2005 constitution, which was widely supported by Kurds, guarantees unprecedented rights for the Kurdish population.

Aydar also discussed Ocalan’s situation, noting that although the PKK leader - imprisoned on Turkey’s Imrali Island since 1999 - has been granted limited access to his lawyers, family members, and pro-Kurdish delegations, however, his isolation largely continues.

“Isolation is still ongoing and Mr. Ocalan remains in a place alone. Yes, it is true that his lawyers have visited him several times, and his family and other delegations [mediators of the PKK-Ankara peace talks] have also visited him. However, everything continues under very strict procedures. Accordingly, this is isolation. He still cannot engage with the media, receive delegations, or host guests,” the senior KCK member noted.

“Let his friends be with him, let him have his delegation and his secretariat,” Aydar added. “One person alone cannot carry out this work; he must be able to do it with a delegation, with a secretariat, and with his connections. This is the issue. He was supposed to have been released by now and to be free at Imrali to receive guests and friends. Until now, they have said ‘yes’ but have not implemented it.”


Zinar Shino contributed to this article from Brussels.

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