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Ocalan Says Laws Needed in Türkiye Peace Process

FILE - Youngsters hold a photograph of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed PKK leader in Diyarbakir, Türkiye, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Metin Yoksu, File)
FILE - Youngsters hold a photograph of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed PKK leader in Diyarbakir, Türkiye, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Metin Yoksu, File)
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Ocalan Says Laws Needed in Türkiye Peace Process

FILE - Youngsters hold a photograph of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed PKK leader in Diyarbakir, Türkiye, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Metin Yoksu, File)
FILE - Youngsters hold a photograph of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed PKK leader in Diyarbakir, Türkiye, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Metin Yoksu, File)

Jailed Kurdistan Workers Party leader Abdullah Ocalan said on Friday that peace-related laws were needed for a transition to democratic integration in Türkiye, in a statement read out a year after he called on his PKK to end its decades-old insurgency and disband.

Ocalan's call could be taken to endorse a roadmap, approved last week by a Turkish parliamentary commission, that urges legal reforms to run alongside the PKK's disarmament, even though details on implementation remain hazy.

The roadmap is expected to be put before parliament next month, likely after the end of Ramadan. If it passes, it will be the first concrete step taken by Türkiye.

"The transition to ⁠democratic integration necessitates laws of peace," Ocalan said ‌in a statement read ‌out by a senior figure in the pro-Kurdish DEM Party at ‌a press conference. The democratic society solution envisions a "legal ‌framework with political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions," he added.

The leaders of DEM, which has been closely involved in the peace process, said before reading Ocalan's statement that it was time for the ‌government to take concrete measures on issues including language, cultural and religious freedoms.

The PKK declared an ⁠end to ⁠its insurgency in May last year and its militants burned some weapons in a symbolic ceremony last July. A few months later it announced its withdrawal from Türkiye, and last week a militant source welcomed the parliament move but said there was still a lack of clarity.

"The door is opening to a new political era and strategy," Ocalan said Friday in the written statement from Imrali prison island where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999.

"We aim to close the era of violence-based politics and open a process based on democratic society and the rule of law," he said, urging all segments of Turkish society to engage with the process.

Some MPs involved in drafting the parliamentary report expressed concern the text failed to mention "the Kurdish question."

Others noted the absence of reference to the "right to hope" for Ocalan -- shorthand for a possible early release -- a key concept first raised in October 2024 when Ankara extended an olive branch to him, kicking off the process.

 

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World

Iran Executed 18 Protesters in 2026, Says UN

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk speaks to the media, at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson, in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Keystone via AP)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk speaks to the media, at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson, in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Keystone via AP)
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Iran Executed 18 Protesters in 2026, Says UN

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk speaks to the media, at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson, in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Keystone via AP)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk speaks to the media, at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson, in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Keystone via AP)

Iran has executed at least 40 people, including 18 protesters, on "national security grounds" since the start of 2026, the United Nations said Monday.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said he felt "deeply for the people in Iran, caught between war and cruel repression".

Since the start of the year, the Iranian authorities "have executed at least 40 people on national security grounds... including 18 protesters", he told the UN Human Rights Council.

Iran executes more people annually than any other nation besides China, according to rights groups.

Turk lamented that Tehran had ramped up repression since a deadly crackdown on protests in January, on top of the Middle East war, sparked in February by US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

He welcomed the announcement on Sunday that the United States and Iran had agreed a peace deal, stressing that "it is clear all sides need to exercise maximum restraint and work to implement the agreement reached, quickly and in good faith".

The conflict, he said, "has had a devastating impact on human rights across the region and around the world".

Repression in Iran was dire even before the war.

In late December, a protest movement sparked by economic pains quickly expanded into mass anti-government rallies, which were met by a crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.

Iranian authorities portrayed the protests as riots backed by the United States and Israel and said the violence killed around 3,000 people.

Rights groups abroad put the toll higher and accused the security forces of firing at demonstrators.

"Since killing thousands of people during the egregious crushing of protests in January, the authorities have intensified their brutal crackdown, arresting thousands and imposing even more severe restrictions on civic space," Turk said.

World

Congo Reports Record One-Day Increase in Ebola Cases, a Month After Outbreak’s Declaration

Dz'na Lipe Jean‑Marie, secretary of the displacement camp, speaks during an Ebola awareness session as humanitarian agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, at Kpangba displacement camp where Ebola cases were observed, Djugu territory in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Dz'na Lipe Jean‑Marie, secretary of the displacement camp, speaks during an Ebola awareness session as humanitarian agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, at Kpangba displacement camp where Ebola cases were observed, Djugu territory in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 13, 2026. (Reuters)
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Congo Reports Record One-Day Increase in Ebola Cases, a Month After Outbreak’s Declaration

Dz'na Lipe Jean‑Marie, secretary of the displacement camp, speaks during an Ebola awareness session as humanitarian agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, at Kpangba displacement camp where Ebola cases were observed, Djugu territory in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Dz'na Lipe Jean‑Marie, secretary of the displacement camp, speaks during an Ebola awareness session as humanitarian agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain, at Kpangba displacement camp where Ebola cases were observed, Djugu territory in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 13, 2026. (Reuters)

Congolese authorities have reported one of the highest increase in Ebola cases in one day, as weak contact tracing, insecurity and funding gaps continue to hinder the response a month after the outbreak was declared.

The Congolese Ministry of Health said Sunday 72 new cases were reported in a 24-hour period, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 782. This includes 181 confirmed deaths, after 32 new deaths were confirmed.

However, the number of cases in Congo is believed to be higher because the outbreak was confirmed on May 15, weeks after it is suspected to have begun, and the contact tracing coverage rate is at 56%, a sharp decrease from last week.

The latest Ebola outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved vaccine or treatment, unlike the Zaire virus, which was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

Fifty-six people have recovered, and the current fatality rate of the outbreak is 23%, the ministry said.

The World Health Organization said Sunday it is intensifying testing and contact tracing and treatment.

Africa's top health body said the same day it is deploying technical expertise and supporting laboratory systems, active case finding and community engagement efforts to accelerate the response to the disease outbreak.

“We remain committed to supporting affected countries until transmission is stopped. We call on partners and donors to urgently mobilize resources to strengthen the response and save lives,” said the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya.

The outbreak is concentrated in Congo’s eastern province of Ituri, which accounts for more than 90% of the cases. Cases have also been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, and have spread across the border to Uganda.

Nearly a million people have been displaced by conflict in Ituri, according to the UN humanitarian office, making contact tracing difficult as people flee attacks or move frequently in the vast province with dense forests, poor roads and remote villages that can take days to reach.

Tracing is also difficult among the thousands of artisanal miners who regularly move between remote sites in the mineral-rich region.

World

Iran's Fars News Agency Says Hormuz Maritime Fees Added to US Deal Last Minute

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 14, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 14, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
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Iran's Fars News Agency Says Hormuz Maritime Fees Added to US Deal Last Minute

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 14, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 14, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

Iran's Fars news agency said on Monday, quoting what it said was an informed source, that Tehran added a clause on imposing maritime service fees to the framework deal with the United States shortly before its announcement.

"In the final moments of the negotiations, the text of the memorandum of understanding was amended to clearly and explicitly emphasize the issue of the Iranian-Omani sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz," said Fars, citing the unidentified source.

"The use of the term 'maritime services' means that the United States has accepted that fees will be paid to Iran," it added.