PKK no longer seeks independent Kurdistan, Ocalan says in rare video

The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) addressed his supporters via video message for the first time in decades on Wednesday, telling them that the armed struggle against Turkey is over and that it is now time to shift to democratic politics.

Abdullah Ocalan, who in a February written statement called for the group he founded to disband, said in the new video that Turkey's parliament should establish a commission to oversee disarmament and take steps to manage the peace process.

After waging war against Turkey for the past 40 years, and being designated a terrorist organisation by the US and EU, the PKK agreed to dissolve itself in May following Ocalan's order.

"The PKK movement, which was founded in response to the denial of [Kurdish identity] and in pursuit of a separate state, has now ended, along with its national liberation strategy," Ocalan said, abandoning the group's separatist agenda.

"Kurdish existence has been recognised, and therefore, our primary objective has been achieved."

His statement comes ahead of a formal ceremony scheduled for this Friday, during which a group of PKK fighters and a senior official are expected to symbolically lay down their arms in Iraq's Sulaymaniyah.

Although not officially acknowledged, the Turkish government is coordinating with the pro-Kurdish Dem Party to bring journalists and observers to the event to document and witness the occasion.

This development follows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's meeting with a group of Dem MPs on Monday.

'The PKK has abandoned its nation-state goal, and by giving up this fundamental aim, it has also ended its war strategy and its very existence. The armed struggle phase must now be replaced by democratic politics and the rule of law," Ocalan said in the message released on Wednesday.

Ocalan, seated in a beige polo shirt with a glass of water on the table before him, appeared to read from a transcript during the seven-minute video. He was joined by six other jailed PKK members, all facing the camera.

Disarmament ceremony

Yahya Bostan, a journalist with sources within the Turkish government, said on Tuesday that a group of 20 to 30 PKK fighters would participate in the disarmament ceremony.

"Local media in northern Iraq reported that the group would be led by a high-ranking figure," Bostan said, suggesting Duran Kalkan or Bese Hozat could be involved.

'The armed struggle phase must now be replaced by democratic politics and the rule of law'

- Abdullah Ocalan

Bostan added that having Hozat, the head of PKK umbrella group the KCK, lead the ceremony would send a strong message that the PKK is honouring its commitment to disband.

Meanwhile, the Turkish government has started to take steps that could be seen as gestures in support of the PKK's disarmament process.

On 30 June, Erdogan pardoned the remaining prison sentence of PKK member Kerim Boran on the grounds of "chronic illness and old age".

Last week, another PKK convict, Cetin Arkas, who worked for Ocalan's secretariat in 2015 during peace talks, was released after spending 33 years in prison.