Kurdish Movement Questions Seriousness of Peace Talks, Demands Öcalan's Inclusion

As Turkey’s landmark peace negotiations continue, prominent voices within the Kurdish movement are expressing profound skepticism about the process, warning that the government's approach threatens to undermine the potential for a lasting settlement. A central point of contention is the refusal of the parliamentary commission leading the talks to engage directly with Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a figure considered indispensable to the process by the movement.

This sentiment was forcefully articulated by Hêlîn Ümit, a member of the Apoist Movement, in a recent interview in the Anf News Agency. Ümit stated that the Kurdish movement views the parliamentary commission as a critical benchmark for the entire process. “A commission that does not recognize Önder Apo as an interlocutor and does not meet with him can have no seriousness,” she declared, arguing that the body’s current stance suggests a strategy of stalling rather than genuine resolution.

In her detailed analysis, Ümit framed the negotiations within a 27-year struggle against what she termed the "International Conspiracy" that led to Öcalan's capture in 1999. She argued that this conspiracy was designed to provoke a century-long Turkish-Kurdish war to destabilize the region. Öcalan, she contended, has spent nearly three decades working to thwart this plan by advocating for a democratic Turkish-Kurdish peace. The Apoist Movement asserts that it has made significant concessions, including the PKK ending its 50-year armed struggle strategy, on the condition that Öcalan would serve as the chief negotiator for a final settlement.

Ümit further argued that the physical freedom of Öcalan is not merely a Kurdish demand but a prerequisite for the democratization of Turkey itself. "If Turkey is to be freed from its shackles, the physical freedom of Önder Apo must be secured first," she stated, linking his isolation to broader issues of injustice and lack of democracy affecting all peoples in Turkey, not just the Kurds. The movement claims that a true resolution requires the recognition of the collective rights of the Kurdish people, including language rights in official spheres, which they see as being systematically denied.

The commission’s reluctance to meet with Öcalan is therefore seen as a pivotal test of the state’s sincerity. Ümit concluded with a stark choice facing Turkish leaders: either embrace a historic opportunity to build a democratic republic through a genuine alliance with the Kurds, with Öcalan at its center, or risk the collapse of the fragile peace process. For the Kurdish movement, the path forward is clear, but whether Ankara is willing to walk it remains a subject of deep and growing doubt.