february 27, 2025
Call for Peace and Democratic Society
The PKK was formed in the 20th century, in the most violent epoch of the history. It was the time of the two world wars, the shadow of the experience of real socialism and the cold-war around the world, when the PKK was founded. The outright denial of Kurdish reality, restrictions on basic rights and freedoms – especially freedom of thought and expression – played a significant role in its emergence and development.
The PKK was, in terms of theory, program, strategy and tactics, formed under the influence of the reality of the real socialism of the century. In the 1990s, with the collapse of real socialism due to internal dynamics, the dissolution of the denial of Kurdish identity in the country, and improvements in freedom of thought and expression, led to the weakening of the PKK´s foundational meaningfulness and resulted in excessive repetition. Therefore, it has run its course like its counterparts and has necessitated its dissolution.
Throughout the history of more than 1000 years, Turkish and Kurdish relations have been defined in terms of mutual cooperation and alliance, and Turks and Kurds have found it essential to remain in this voluntary alliance to maintain their existence and survive against hegemonic powers.
The last 200 years of capitalist modernity have been marked by primarily with the aim to break this alliance. The forces involved, in line with their class-based interests, have played a key role in furthering this objective. With the monist interpretations of the Republic, this process has accelerated. Today, the main task is to restructure the historical relationship, which has become extremely fragile, without excluding consideration for beliefs in the spirit of fraternity.
The need for a democratic society is inevitable. The PKK is the longest and most extensive insurgency and armed movement in the history of the Republic. Because it took the road of democratic politics, the PKK become powerful and was supported.
The inevitable outcome of the extreme nationalist deviations – such as a separate nation state, federation, administrative autonomy, or culturalist solutions – fails to answer the historical sociology of the society.
Respect for identities, free self-expression, democratic self-organization of each part of society based on their own socio-economic and political structures, are only possible through the existence of a democratic society and democratic politics.
The second century of the Republic can achieve and assure permanent and fraternal continuity only if it is crowned with democracy. There is no alternative to democracy in the pursuit and realization of a political system. Democratic consensus is the fundamental way.
The language of the epoch of peace and democratic society needs to be developed in accordance with this reality.
The call made by Mr. Devlet Bahceli, along with the will expressed by Mr. President, and the positive responses from the other political parties have created this process, and I utilize this process to make a call for the laying down of arms, and I take on the historical responsibility of this call.
As in the case with any modern community and party whose existence has not been abolished by force, convene your congress to integrate with the state and society voluntarily and make a decision; all groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself.
I convey my greetings to all those who believe in co-existence and who join me in my call.
25. February 2025
Abdullah Ocalan
Sirri Sureyya Onder, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament of the HDP and MP for Istanbul, who was also part of the delegation visiting Abdullah Ocalan on the prison island Imrali, added that Ocalan also wanted to add the following sentence to the statement: ‘Undoubtedly, the laying down of arms and the dissolution of the PKK in practice require the recognition of democratic politics and a legal framework.’