A stark warning from imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan regarding Syria's future and a deepening dispute over the official record of a recent parliamentary visit to İmralı Island have exposed fresh tensions in Turkey's fragile political process. According to a lawmaker present at the meeting, Öcalan cautioned that Syria's temporary leader, Ahmed El Şara, risks becoming a dictator without democratic reforms.
In an interview with T24 columnist Cansu Çamlıbel, DEM Party Group Deputy Chair Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, who was part of the cross-party delegation that met Öcalan on November 24, revealed significant details omitted from the official "summary" read in parliament this week. "If there is no democratization in Syria, Şara could also turn into a dictator like Assad," Koçyiğit recounted Öcalan as stating. "If the system in Syria is going to turn into a dictatorship again, then Kurdish forces will not be a part of it; that is what Öcalan meant."
The DEM Party politician stated that Öcalan did not instruct the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or its military wing, the YPG, to disband unconditionally. Instead, he reportedly suggested a potential model where part of the SDF could integrate into a future Syrian national army, with another portion serving as local security forces under an interior ministry. "He did not say the YPG would dissolve itself like the PKK," Koçyiğit emphasized.
These critical nuances were absent from the brief summary presented to the parliamentary commission, a point of fierce contention for the DEM Party. Koçyiğit accused the parliament presidency, dominated by the ruling bloc, of obscuring the meeting's substance. "We have no involvement in the minutes presented as a 'summary' in parliament, nor is our signature under it," she stated. "Öcalan's broad assessment on Syria is not in the 'summary'; his emphasis on Şara was not included at all."
The controversy underscores the fragility of the "National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission" initiative. Koçyiğit defended the İmralı visit as "historic" and a confirmation of Öcalan's role as a political actor, but lamented that procedural disputes and opaque reporting were overshadowing its potential. "We think it is wrong that the content and spirit of the meeting are not fully reflected," she said, demanding the release of the full 16-page transcript agreed upon by all three visiting delegates.
The interview also touched on domestic pressures, with Koçyiğit criticizing continued legal cases against politicians like former HDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş as counterproductive to peace efforts. She firmly rejected any suggestion that her party's engagement in the process implied alignment with the ruling People's Alliance. "To think that we would approve a constitution cooked up in the AKP's kitchen and brought before us is to not know us at all," she asserted.