ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - As Turkey stands on the brink of peace between the state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a co-founder of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said on Friday that Kurdish identity and rights must be considered in any peace process.
“We must find social and political solutions to address terrorism. Issues such as Kurdish identity, cultural rights, language and education rights must be part of this process,” Bulent Arinc said at Erbil Forum 2025.
He compared terrorism to a swamp, saying that unless it is drained, “new mosquitoes will continue to breed every day. Killing three or five of them will not solve the problem. The important thing is to drain the swamp,” meaning the focus should be on the root cause.
On Thursday, jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan released a statement calling on his group to lay down arms and disband. Ankara considers the PKK a terrorist organization. At least 40,000 people have been killed, including civilians, and the conflict has spilled over international borders. Previous efforts to end the conflict have failed.
Reflecting on four decades of violence, Arinc said the years have been filled with "suffering.”
Hopes of a renewed drive for peace were boosted last year when the nationalist politician Devlet Bahceli shook hands with pro-Kurdish members of the parliament and proposed inviting Ocalan to address the legislature and declare the dissolution of the PKK.
Arinc said that Ocalan has already met expectations and predicted that his call for dissolution of the PKK must have surprised Bahceli’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
PKK media has published Ocalan's message, though the group’s commanders on the ground have previously warned that they would not heed any call from their leader unless he meets them in person and chairs a leadership meeting.
Ocalan's message should have been delivered via video, according to Arinc. His written letter was read out by members of the pro-Kurdish delegation who visited him in Imrali prison.
In his message, Ocalan said the PKK was founded during a time when Kurdish identity and basic rights were denied in Turkey and “the channels of democratic politics were closed.” He said the situation has now changed and the PKK “has completed its life.”