.jpg)
Muslim elaborated that the PKK "was established for a specific purpose and has achieved this purpose," highlighting that Kurdish existence is now widely acknowledged, and robust Kurdish defense forces have been formed. This reality, he argued, necessitated the PKK's strategic shift, especially as the "terrorist" designation was, in his view, essentially a construct of the Turkish state to delegitimize Kurdish aspirations.
The PYD official passionately urged Turkey to "correct its historical mistakes," pinpointing the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne as the origin of a century of denial of Kurdish identity, leading to what he described as "massacres and genocides." "Before Lausanne, there was a history, a unity between Kurds and Turks," Muslim asserted, framing the PKK's subsequent armed struggle, initiated in 1984, as an act of "legitimate self-defense" against these state policies.
Muslim recalled several past peace initiatives, including in 1993 and 2007, which he stated were consistently thwarted by an "unchanged mentality" within the Turkish state. While acknowledging ongoing "chauvinist approaches" as obstacles, he expressed hope for resolution through dialogue. "The ball is now in Turkey's court," he concluded, emphasizing that Ankara's acceptance of Kurdish identity is crucial for the welfare of both Turkish and Kurdish peoples, regional stability, and potentially supported by international guarantors.
The Democratic Union Party (PYD), to which Salih Muslim belongs, is a prominent Kurdish political party in Syria, founded in 2003. It is the leading political force within the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), often called Rojava. The PYD espouses a political ideology of democratic confederalism, advocating for decentralization, gender equality, and secular governance. While it states it is organizationally distinct, Turkey and some other international actors consider the PYD to be closely linked to, or an affiliate of, the PKK, an assertion the PYD denies.