Perinçek calls for amnesty for the PKK terrorist organization: 'It is time for integration into the Turkish Nation'

Vatan Party Chairman Doğu Perinçek held a press conference at his party's Istanbul provincial headquarters under the title, 'Amnesty Law Proposal Regarding the Integration of Members of the Dissolved PKK Terrorist Organization with the State and Society.'

Perinçek was accompanied by Secretary General Özgür Bursalı, Central Executive Committee (MYK) member Şule Perinçek, Central Committee (MKK) member İbrahim Okan Özkan, and Central Committee (MKK) member Günnur Bayburt. Perinçek stated the following:

“The Turkish Armed Forces and the security organizations of the Republic of Turkey have achieved a historic success in the task of ending the life of the PKK terrorist organization and neutralizing the last terrorist. This historic success has been achieved with the blood of our martyrs and the unparalleled sacrifices of our veterans. The determination of the Turkish nation, with both its Turks and Kurds, to live together has passed a historic test over the last 40 years and has determined our future as the guarantor of the unity of the nation and the homeland.

It is under these conditions that PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan has declared that the PKK has no historical basis and that its lifespan has ended. In a call titled ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ made from İmralı on February 27, 2025, the PKK leader requested that the PKK Congress take the decision to ‘dissolve the PKK and lay down arms.’ Most importantly, this decision is tied to a strategic goal.

Öcalan emphasizes that the decision to dissolve and lay down arms must be taken with the aim of integrating with the state and society. The process managed by the Republic of Turkey government under the title of a ‘terror-free Turkey’ should be defined beyond the stated goal as a process of a ‘unified Turkey.’ Clearing terrorism from the life of the country is undoubtedly an important goal, but the integration of the elements involved in terrorism and our citizens who remain under their control with the Republic of Turkey state and the Turkish nation is a strategic goal.

One of the primary goals of the fundamental program of our national democratic revolution, which has been ongoing since the mid-19th century, is the integration of all our people living on Turkish soil into the Turkish nation. For this reason, we are setting the title of the proposed law as the ‘Amnesty Law Regarding the Integration of Members of the Dissolved PKK Terrorist Organization with the State and Society.’

The provision in Article 13 of the Amnesty Law proposal regarding the termination of the presence of symbols in public places that remind of those who led armed uprisings against the republic, such as Sheikh Said and Seyit Rıza, is also intended to share the decision of integration with the state and society. The presence of such symbols in public spaces encourages division, armed separatism, and settling scores with our republic and our army.

These symbols do not serve the purposes that unite and bring together our entire nation, both Turks and Kurds, and do not strengthen the sentiment and determination toward our common future. It is clear that constantly turning back and directing future generations into the same divisive dead ends will not foster Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood, but rather enmity. In this context, it is a positive development that the members of the dissolved PKK are holding their disarmament ceremony under the name ‘Peace and Democracy Group’ in Sulaymaniyah, at the headquarters of the Kurdish leader Mahmut Berzenci, who fought shoulder to shoulder with us against British imperialism during our War of Independence. While the weapons provided by US imperialism and Israeli Zionism are being burned, the legacy of brotherhood in arms against imperialism is being emphasized.

'IT IS TIME FOR INTEGRATION INTO THE TURKISH NATION'

Now, it is time for integration into the Republic of Turkey state and the Turkish nation. In the process Turkey has entered, the polarization is between the forces that want the PKK to lay down its arms and the forces that want to prevent the PKK from laying down its arms. Laying down arms means actively abandoning separatist goals such as establishing a separate state, establishing a federated state, autonomy, and pursuing separatist cultural solutions outside of our common national culture.

Because arms are the primary condition for establishing a separate state. The polarization between those who want the PKK to lay down its arms and the forces that want to prevent it from doing so is also on an international level. At the forefront of the forces trying to prevent the PKK from laying down its arms are the US and Israel.

For this reason, practices aimed at the PKK laying down its arms also serve to strengthen the external front. Distinguishing between those who end their ties with the organization and lay down their arms and those who insist on terrorist activities is also necessary for Turkey's security and for achieving effective results against terrorism.

The Republic of Turkey state must implement measures and practices that will facilitate the PKK ending its life and laying down its arms by evaluating the existing historical conditions and Öcalan's courageous call.

Punishing citizens of the Republic of Turkey who have ended their ties with the organization and demonstrated the will to lay down their arms, as well as PKK members who have left or been removed from citizenship, with the harshest penalties and, furthermore, life imprisonment, will not serve the purpose of laying down arms, nor will it contribute to the goal of strengthening the internal front that will be realized with the dissolution of the PKK and the laying down of arms, to Turkey's integration, to social peace, or to economic development.”

News Source: 12punto