Breaking News... Joint report accepted: DEM Party Imralı Delegation publishes Öcalan's message!

Hot developments continue to unfold in the second peace process, architected by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli and dubbed the "Terror-Free Turkey" process by the government, which is being conducted with the DEM Party and Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the terrorist organization PKK.

While the joint report of the commission in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) has been accepted, the DEM Party Imralı Delegation issued a written statement regarding their meeting with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on February 16.

The statement from the Imralı Delegation is as follows:

"On February 16, 2026, we held a meeting with Mr. Öcalan in Imralı that lasted approximately three and a half hours. During the meeting, Mr. Öcalan made important assessments that we can summarize as follows:

“My life has always been lived at a high tempo since my first rebellion in the family. I am still continuing this. The period we have left behind has, in essence, proven our negotiation ability and strength to ensure the transition from a politics of violence and division to democratic politics and integration.

“The TBMM Commission report must be compatible with fundamental social realities. This quality of the commission report will be extremely important in the future progress of the process. A policy that approaches with the logic of “liquidating terror” expresses not a solution, but an impasse.

“The Peace and Democratic Society Process is a process that constantly re-evaluates itself and determines its strategy and tactics. I consider this meeting of ours as an introductory meeting for Democratic Integration. On this occasion, I commemorate our friend Sırrı Süreyya with great respect. In my opinion, he was a harbinger of good news and a very valuable friend of ours.

“The process leading to the founding of the Republic was built on the unity of Turks and Kurds. Even if it was changed later, traces of this can be seen in all documents. This issue was accepted during the War of Independence, in the congresses, and in the proclamation of the republic. Mustafa Kemal himself made assessments regarding the Kurds at the Izmit press conference on January 17, 1921. This republic was certainly not built without Kurds. Those who deny this say every word with a sharp and destructive language every day. Kurds are also in the yeast and foundation of the Republic. The subsequent legal texts excluding Kurds, and banning Kurdishness and the Kurdish language, produced denial and rebellion. The process we are in is a process of ending denial and rebellion. We now want to discuss how we will come together and live together in peace.

“In the Middle Ages, there was a relationship based on religious unity, and the order of the emirates was built this way. Today, we will integrate with the republic on the basis of appropriate contemporary standards and in a rational way. This needs to have an architecture. The fact that Kurdish existence is not denied does not mean that the architecture is established. Architecture cannot be without laws and principles. It would not be right to reduce the issue to a few amendments to the penal code. The main elements of this architecture, that is, the basic principles of integration, are in the February 27 declaration. This is a political program.

“There is a matter of citizenship definition. Citizenship expresses the bond established with the state. Citizenship describes allegiance to the state regardless of ethnicity, language, belief, or system of thought. For example, it does not matter if they are socialist, capitalist, Muslim, Christian, Kurdish, or Arab. All can be citizens of the state.

“I prefer to call it a free citizen. It can also be called constitutional citizenship, but free citizenship is broader than that. They will be free in their religion, free in their nationality, and free in their thoughts. Does the definition of citizenship in Turkey meet this? It is a bit ambiguous. They will freely express and organize their existence in a religious, ideological, and national sense. This will also be done within democratic boundaries and in a way that takes the integrity of the state as a basis.

“A free citizen should be as free in expressing their national identity as they are in expressing their religion, sect, and thoughts. If you cannot impose your religion and language on someone else, you should not impose your nationality either. Everyone should be able to freely express their own nationality and identity.

“We said that we want to live as a Democratic Society and we put “Peace” at the beginning of it. A democratic society expresses the ability to freely build its social identity. A society has cultural elements; it has health institutions, education and sports institutions, hospitals, and economic institutions. If a society can build these freely, it gains a democratic character. A strong state is a state that shows the flexibility for this.

“These are the main principles and organizational model of our integration. There is nothing here that would mean nationalism or religious extremism, including the unitary state. We are talking about the institutions and construction of a democratic society. Undoubtedly, there is no place for violence here in any way. Integration into the Democratic Republic is as important as the founding of the Republic. We are conducting all our work with the spirit of the Democratic Republic. The integration of Kurds will be one of the most fundamental pillars of the Republic. We are setting the brotherhood, which has been going upside down for two hundred years, back on its feet and doing what the law of brotherhood requires. This is the construction of the new century, even the new millennium.

“What is appropriate for the spirit of democratic integration is the existence and institutionalization of local democracy. This is also what we propose for Syria. What I mean by local democracy is this: It could be a city or a village; they should have the right to freely express themselves and govern themselves. The conditions for local government are clear. I am not saying a separate state or region. An expanded version of the European Charter of Local Self-Government that is compatible with our social reality would also be a strong basis for this.

“These proposals consider the existence and rights of not only Kurds but also all other peoples and belief communities in the places where they are located. History was not made by leaving Kurds aside. Sultan Sanjar was the first to declare Kurdistan. Suleiman the Magnificent used to say that he leaned his back on there. It is necessary to move away from a policy based on the fear of Kurds, from a policy of seeing Kurds as a phobia and a fear.

“Our issue has a security dimension, but it has a political dimension in a broader scope than that. Because we will engage in politics. Weapons and violence have been abandoned. We will conduct a tremendous democratic politics. Our society needs this as much as bread and water. Everything should not be drowned in security. Security should be based on politics, and politics should be based on security. We will be a political community: A democratic politics community.

On the issue of Kurdish unity, my proposal for the form of relationship both within the Kurds themselves and among the fragmented Kurds is “Democratic Unity”. This is not a separate state, but a comprehensive principle of democratic governance.”

Respectfully,

DEM Party Imralı Delegation

February 18, 2026"