The PKK opening and Özgür Özel’s path!..

The Imralı delegation of the DEM Party, the PKK’s representative in Parliament, last met with the terrorist leader on May 24.

At the beginning of the month, DEM Spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan spoke of a “root law” and “setting a timeline for the roadmap,” while demanding that the doors to meeting with the terrorist leader be opened wide to allow the “process to gain momentum.” Despite their insistence, she noted that there was no draft shared with them yet, stating, “Our delegation has not met with Mr. Öcalan for 40 days. Unfortunately, the meeting requests made are not being responded to positively.”

The terrorist organization PKK, which is claimed to have dissolved itself, taken the name “freedom movement,” and laid down its arms, also issued a statement on July 11 on the anniversary of its 30-Kalashnikov-burning show. It reported that “despite a year passing, no progress has been made in the political and legal spheres,” and that there had been no response to the “reasonable proposals of the leadership” regarding the “root law” on the agenda. They further stated that they had not been informed, emphasizing that excluding the “leadership and the leading cadres of the freedom movement” from the scope of the law meant “sabotaging” the process.

A few days later, the DEM Party Assembly, again complaining about the lack of communication with the terrorist leader, warned: “The isolation that has been ongoing for nearly 50 days and the failure to share the draft law with the interlocutors absolutely do not comply with the requirements of the process.”

On the same day, Helin Ümit, a self-proclaimed “member of the Kurdistan freedom movement,” claimed that some steps were normally planned to be taken immediately after May, including some journalists going to Imralı, and that a calendar had been set for the law, but that this calendar had not been followed.

Following these reactions, the DEM İmralı delegation, which met with the AKP delegation on July 15 and MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli on the 16th, noted that “they aim to hold a meeting with Mr. Öcalan in Imralı as soon as possible.”

This is the “Seriousness of Being a State”

Following that statement by the Imralı delegation, DEM members Ayşegül Doğan, Tayip Temel, Saruhan Oluç, and Sultan Özcan, who briefed a group of journalists on the process, explained that although there was “no finalized calendar yet,” Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş would meet with political parties, and the Imralı delegation was expected to meet with the terrorist leader the following week. They stated that they “wanted to hear firsthand from Öcalan whether he had been consulted regarding the draft law and whether the draft covered Öcalan’s proposals.” The following remarkable statements were also made during the meeting:

Tayip Temel: “A group of 30 PKK members laid down their arms and they have not touched weapons again, but they are alongside the armed forces. The PKK is armed; it has not laid down its arms. The PKK declared its will to lay down arms, the decision to dissolve the congress, and that it has symbolically taken this step. Therefore, the law is pending.”

Saruhan Oluç: “It is not just a matter of how they will lay down their arms; how will they be included in social, political, and cultural life?.. Since this did not happen, the 30 people who laid down their arms could not come with us. If this law existed, they would have come... We explained our own proposals; they know Öcalan’s proposals, they listened to them... Actually, everyone knows everything. The state knows, the government knows.”

Ayşegül Doğan: “Until today, either amnesty was imposed or repentance was imposed. Either the state will make concessions or the organization will make concessions or surrender. There is no need for either. When the state approaches with the seriousness of being a state, this problem is already solved. As the DEM Party, we fill in the meaning of the seriousness of being a state as follows: the recognition of the right to be a citizen.”

PKK Said “If the End of the War is Desired”

We have arrived at the beginning of the week.

The separatist terrorist organization PKK, in a new statement made in the morning hours the day before yesterday, reacted to both the fact that there was no regulation regarding the terrorist leader and themselves within the scope of the draft law, and that there had been no meeting with the terrorist leader for two months, as follows:

“Not allowing a meeting with the primary interlocutor for two months during such an important process for the resolution of the Kurdish issue shows that rhetoric and practice do not overlap... The framework law to be enacted cannot be prepared with unilateral will and imposition... The drafts and proposals prepared by Öcalan must be taken into account... If an end to violence and conflict is desired, the only solution is democratization. Policies that do not prioritize democratization will mean the continuation of conflict and war.”

While DEM spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan had said 17 days ago that “meeting requests are not being responded to positively,” and after the Imralı delegation’s meeting with the AKP and Bahçeli last week, it was noted that the DEM members could go to Imralı this Thursday, and this date was also pointed to in the PKK’s statement; it was reported that the delegation went to Imralı almost in a rush immediately after the statement. Along with this, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş’s program for meeting with political parties regarding the draft law was announced.

What was discussed in the 5-hour meeting in Imralı was also announced just yesterday. In summary, the terrorist leader again said, “Law of brotherhood... Transforming the historical alliance and togetherness of Kurds and Turks into a legal basis... Developing the law of common life and equality... Living together equally and freely in a democratic republic.”

We know very well what these flashy words mean, but let’s clarify it further with what DEM co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan said in yesterday’s group meeting, while it was still fresh.

While warning Iran in a “I’m telling you, daughter, so that you, daughter-in-law, understand” manner, Bakırhan used the following expressions:

“Kurds are not the Kurds of the Treaty of Qasr-i Shirin period or the Sykes-Picot period. A lot of water has flowed under that bridge. With 60 million, they are the most dynamic and organized force in the Middle East. Therefore, everyone should come to their senses.”

He also explained what they understand by the framework law as follows:

“The framework law is not an end, but a substantial beginning. It is a door we will use to transition to a new era. To pass through this door, the framework law must be enacted immediately and implementation must begin. Simultaneously, a common roadmap that the parties and the public will agree upon must be drawn up. The democratization process must begin and democratic integration must be built... A unilateral, impositional framework law that produces century-old repetitions will not be path-opening, but path-blocking... As the DEM Party, our route is peace, and our path is the path of a democratic republic. We believe that an equation in which the national rights of the Kurds are secured and all of Turkey attains democracy will offer a strong future to 86 million.”

Özgür Özel’s Path

As it has been for months, it is clear that from today on, it will not be the PKK process targeting Turkey’s unitary-national structure that will be discussed, but the new earthquake in the CHP, namely the decision of Özgür Özel and his friends to form a new party.

As is known, Parliament Speaker Kurtulmuş preferred to meet with the “absolute nullity” chairman who emphasized that he would support the process on the day he took office, rather than the elected chairman of the CHP, Özgür Özel, who has supported the process from the beginning, regarding the draft law considered for the PKK members. It seems they see the number of deputies who will remain with the “absolute nullity” as sufficient to reach the goal.

Returning to Özgür Özel; while announcing the decision to leave the CHP and form a new party, he recalled that the CHP founded by Atatürk is the founding party of this country and emphasized the following:

“The current generations and understanding of the tradition that founded the Republic are with us... The path shown by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who risked death to cross into Anatolia and lead the war of independence instead of being a palace puppet pasha in occupied Istanbul, is our path... No position is more advanced than democracy, and no structure is of greater importance than the ideals of the republic. We are at the service of the nation today as we were yesterday... We are committed to the six arrows to the end. We certainly possess the country’s founders, its founding codes, and the ideals of our party that we have adopted since the country’s founding. However, along with this, we are also the owners of a great call. 10 months ago... just as we embraced democratic conservatives, nationalist democrats, Kurdish democrats, socialist democrats, and liberal democrats, and established the Turkey alliance together; I invite all democrats who have no problem with Atatürk, no problem with the Misak-ı Milli borders, and no problem with the republic to embrace in the Turkey alliance and march to power together.”

If he truly embraces the “founding codes of the country” as he says, and aims to “walk on the path shown by Atatürk with those who have no problem with Atatürk, the Misak-ı Milli, and the republic,” doesn’t Özgür Özel also need to announce that they will no longer support this PKK process?!

Müyesser YILDIZ

July 22, 2026