As of today, 348 days have passed since Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan made his Call for Peace and a Democratic Society on February 27, 2025. Despite all the positive steps taken by the Kurdish Freedom Movement in line with Abdullah Öcalan’s perspectives during this period, no concrete step has yet been taken by the state. The parliamentary commission established within the framework of resolving the Kurdish issue has also failed to create a legal framework so far. Despite Abdullah Öcalan’s efforts to socialize the process, the current ruling mentality continues the isolation, preventing the process from reaching the people.

 

 

Assessing the current stage of the resolution of the Kurdish issue, Italian academician Federico Venturini drew attention to Abdullah Öcalan’s role and influence in the process.

 

‘ABDULLAH OCALAN IS A CREDIBLE VOICE’

 

Venturini emphasized that there are various actors within the state who are dissatisfied with the possibility of peace and aim to derail the process. Nevertheless, he conveyed that there has been progress and that, despite its slow pace, the process is moving in the right direction. Venturini reminded that the most important point in this process is Kurdish Leader Öcalan's freedom, saying: “I agree that the freedom of Öcalan is a necessary step. Because he's the recognized leader. That means that only with him, a real lasting peace is achievable. And then also many said, only a free man can negotiate. The message that he sent this year, the first one, was heard by everyone with a lot of hope; abroad, in the Kurdish community, everywhere in the world, but especially in Turkey, in Syria, in all of the Middle East. The ceremony of the fire, destroying the guns and also the message to withdraw all the guerrillas from Bakur… All these passages were initiated by the call from Öcalan. This is the real proof that he is the key actor to be on the table because he is a leader, is recognized, is a credible voice. He’s also a skillful politician and theoretician. We really need to have him on the table.”

 

‘FOR GUERILLAS TO REINTEGRATE INTO PUBLIC LIFE’

 

Venturini reiterated that the Kurdish Freedom Movement had taken the steps required for the process to move forward, while noting that lasting peace would depend on reciprocal action. Referring to statements made by PKK and Abdullah Öcalan, he said the process has consistently emphasized the need for measures from both sides. According to Venturini, the current discussions go beyond the issue of disarmament alone. He underlined that the core of the process concerns the recognition of the rights of the Kurdish population, as well as other minorities in Turkey, alongside the implementation of democratic and autonomy-related principles. Venturini also pointed to the need for creating an appropriate political space and timeframe in which such issues can be addressed. He noted that a sustainable resolution would require confidence-building steps from the state, including legal and political measures that would allow guerrillas to reintegrate into public life.

 

‘GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO RECOGNIZE KURDISH EXISTENCE’

 

Venturini pointed out that the government should prioritize making changes to the laws and stated: “The Turkish state needs to start to implement changes in its structure, in its law, in the constitution, and also needs to enable Turkish society, to evolve and to understand which are the requests from the Kurdish population and start to respect that and not to see the Kurdish population as a second class citizen. Government needs to recognize the language, their existence, and not to see them as a threat to the supposed national security.”

 

‘MORAL CONDITIONS ARE CREATED’

 

Venturini emphasized that the progress made in the peace process is not the result of a single individual alone. Rather, it is the outcome of decades of collective struggle, political organization, and sustained work by the Kurdish Freedom Movement and by Kurdish people on the ground. He said: “Through years of mobilization, resistance, and institution-building under conditions of repression and conflict, the movement and the people have created the political, social, and moral conditions that make a peace process possible today. Within this collective effort, Abdullah Öcalan remains a central political reference for guidance and inspiration, the driving force of the process lies in the organized movement and in the communities on the ground that have carried it forward over time.”

 

‘INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS A DUTY’

 

Venturini highlighted the importance of international support in advancing the process and said: “Within all of this process, I think that as an international people in solidarity with the Kurdish freedom movement, we need to ensure that there is some kind of support from abroad in order for this process to take place. The international community has a duty to fulfill the necessity to  facilitate this peace process and also to put pressure on the Turkish state to proceed. A lot of things need to be discussed and solved after many years of violence, of hate that exacerbate all the situation. And in order to do this, the international community needs to be vigilant towards what is happening and also to  influence the Turkish state to take the necessary steps. We need to keep talking about what is happening there, showing solidarity, not to keep silent, but continue to speak up about what is happening there in order to create even an international consensus towards a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question.”

 

‘NOT JUST A SOLUTION BUT ALSO AN EXAMPLE’

 

Venturini drew attention to the importance of the process in Turkey for the Middle East. “What is necessary during the peace process is the calls for major autonomy, for self-management of the public life in Bakur and the recognition of the language and the possibility of an alternative education and the freedom to decide by themselves for the Kurdish population. If the peace process will achieve this, then it can also open the discussion for a greater autonomy for all the different minorities in Turkey and then  to the wider Middle East. This is why the peace process is so important. It is not only about solving an armed conflict, but it can also open the possibility to shine as an example in the Middle East. With the peace process, the peace process can represent an example to not only solve the Kurdish question, but also to represent an example for the situation in Iraq, the wider Syria in Iran, and also towards the conflict between Israel and Palestine” he said.

 

MA / Deniz Karabudak