Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party on Monday welcomed the withdrawal of PKK fighters from Turkish territory, calling it a major step that marks the completion of the first phase of the country’s peace process with the Kurdish group.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a four-decade conflict against the Turkish state, began pulling back its forces on Sunday. The group urged Ankara to take legal measures to advance the peace process, which started a year ago when the government extended a peace proposal to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
“This withdrawal decision is the clearest sign of the PKK’s commitment to peace,” said DEM co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan. “It is one of the most important and decisive steps. The first stage of the peace process has now ended,” he added, calling on the government to move forward with the “essential second phase” involving legal and political actions.
“Parliament should take the lead and make the necessary legal arrangements for this transition. These steps will serve as the foundation for lasting peace,” Bakirhan said. “Solving the Kurdish issue means democratising Turkey — and that benefits everyone.”
The Turkish parliament has already formed a commission to prepare a roadmap for peace and a legal framework for the political integration of PKK members. The DEM Party has urged swift government action to maintain progress.
“In this new stage, quick and effective legal and political measures are key to sustaining the peace process,” said DEM co-chair Tulay Hatimogullari.
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, who leads the peace commission, said Monday that once the PKK withdrawal is verified by security and intelligence agencies, “a phase of legislative amendments” will begin to support the process.
Indirect negotiations between Ankara and the PKK began last year with the backing of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with the DEM Party — Turkey’s third-largest political group — playing a central role in facilitating talks. The party confirmed it would send a delegation to meet President Erdogan on Thursday.
Since December, DEM representatives have also held regular meetings with Abdullah Ocalan, who has been serving a life sentence in solitary confinement on Imrali Island near Istanbul since 1999.
