Turkish intelligence working to accelerate PKK disarmament: Erdogan

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that his country’s intelligence agency is working to accelerate the disarmament of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after the Kurdish group decided to lay down arms and dissolve itself.

“Our intelligence organization [MIT] is working to accelerate the laying down of arms,” Erdogan told journalists aboard his return flight from Kazakhstan. “It is true that, just as there are those who pray and work for the success of the process, there are also those disturbed by it.”

He stressed that his administration would not allow opponents of the peace process to succeed.

“We are determined. We will not make those who do not want a terror-free Turkey happy. We are determined. We will not give them an opportunity,” he said.

His remarks come amid growing criticism from the PKK and mediators over Ankara’s alleged lack of commitment to the process, which Turkish officials have codenamed “Terror-Free Turkey.”

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which has mediated the peace talks between Ankara and the PKK, held simultaneous rallies in major cities including Ankara, Istanbul and Diyarbakir (Amed in Kurdish) to call on the government to “take a step for peace.”

“While negotiations continue on one side, this mentality that does not even allow us to take two steps does not serve peace,” DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan told supporters in Ankara.

He added that decades of conflict had left deep scars across Turkey.

“Every inch of these lands has been touched by pain. Every inch of these lands has been stained with blood. Nearly 86 million people have accumulated pain and suffering... We are on the roads so that there will be no more bloodshed, no more pain, and so that these lands will accumulate peace and democracy instead of blood and suffering.”

The renewed peace push emerged in late 2024, driven by shifting regional dynamics and renewed political will after years of conflict between Ankara and the PKK. A major turning point came when jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan called on the group in February 2025 to disarm and dissolve. The PKK said it heeded the call, holding a symbolic disarmament ceremony and withdrawing from some conflict zones.

However, Kurdish and Turkish officials have since issued conflicting assessments of the process.

While Turkish officials, including Erdogan, have claimed that everything is proceeding as expected despite what they describe as “sabotage” attempts, DEM Party politicians and PKK commanders have accused Ankara of failing to take concrete steps.

Murat Karayilan, a senior PKK commander, said late last month that the process had been “frozen” by the Turkish state.

“The last comprehensive meeting between a state delegation and the DEM Party delegation with Leader Apo [Ocalan] on March 27 created great expectations. However, as far as it is understood, a conclusion has been reached that will lead to the freezing of the process in the eyes of the government and the upper level of the state on the axis of the issues that came to the agenda and discussed in this meeting,” Karayilan said.

Asked whether the process had been frozen, he replied: “Yes, as of now, the process has been frozen. This is what is reflected in us and what we see.”

On the same day, Erdogan said that “despite all the covert and overt sabotage we have faced” since the start of the process, “we have managed to overcome many critical thresholds peacefully.”

In February, Turkish lawmakers approved a report laying the groundwork for PKK fighters who renounce violence to reintegrate into society, though it stopped short of granting amnesty. Parliament was expected to follow up with legislation to formalize the process, but no concrete steps have been taken since.

Tulay Hatimoglullari, co-chair of the DEM Party, warned last week that delays by Ankara risk undermining momentum.

Since its dissolution announcement in May last year, the PKK has adopted two names: the Kurdistan Freedom Movement and the Apoist Movement.