Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Sunday to crush the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) if it refuses to adhere to the call made by its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, to lay down arms and disband.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), said Ocalan’s call is not one that should be squandered, but must be turned into concrete steps through the necessary legal and political regulations.
On Thursday, Ocalan called on his PKK party to disarm and disband. Ocalan, 75, has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul in near-total isolation since 1999.
Erdogan has welcomed Ocalan’s call delivered by a DEM delegation to Imrali Prison. The Turkish President also affirmed that Ankara is open to compromise and dialogue, but threatened military operations “if the promises given are not kept.”
Speaking at an iftar gathering with families of martyrs, the Turkish President said, “If needed, we will keep up our operations - which are ongoing - leaving no stone standing and leaving no heads on shoulders, until every last terrorist is eliminated.”
Erdogan said the government always valued “talks and compromise” in resolving problems.
However, he said, “We will keep valuing mutual respect, tolerance and dialogue instead of hate speech, fights and tension but if the hand we extended is left hanging or bitten, we have our iron fist ready.”
Erdogan also threatened that, “If the hand we extended is left hanging in the air or bitten, we always keep our iron fist ready.”
The President affirmed a different Türkiye exists, one that does not fall into the game and instead sets the game in its region and beyond.
He added that whatever step his government takes, it takes it for the future of Türkiye and the Turkish nation.
On Saturday, the PKK declared an immediate ceasefire.
But the party warned that in order for peace talks to be successful, “a suitable democratic political and legal foundation must also be established.”
“None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked,” it added.
“Beyond this, issues like laying down arms being put into practice can only be realized under the practical leadership of Leader Apo,” the group said, using its nickname for Ocalan, adding it would halt all hostilities immediately unless attacked.
Tuncer Bakirhan, co-chair of DEM, said on Sunday that political and legal adjustments were now “inevitable” after the peace call, and added that Türkiye’s parliament had a “historic role” to play.
“This process is not one that should be squandered. It must not remain on paper only,” Bakirhan told DEM members in Ankara. “The call is not one for winning and losing... There is no winner, no loser,” he said adding that those who will leave Ocalan’s call on paper will take great responsibility.
On Sunday, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli welcomed Ocalan’s call for his party to disarm and dissolve itself, calling it a “valuable and important” statement.
“The PKK terrorist organization, which held its first congress in Fis Village of Lice District of Diyarbakir on November 27, 1978 and aimed to establish a Great Kurdistan within the Marxist-Leninist framework, was called to dissolve its organizational structure by its founding leader after 47 years,” Bahceli said.
“It is now impossible to tolerate the arson and tampering with the Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood, and it is futile to pursue such a mistake,” he added.
