On December 29, 2024, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurdish leader imprisoned in isolation on Turkey’s Imrali Island for the past quarter-century, expressed willingness “to take the necessary positive steps and make the required call” during a visit from Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, two pro-Kurdish members of the Turkish parliament. Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, defined these steps as the dissolution of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its disarmament. Likewise, on December 25, 2024, Erdoğan issued an ultimatum to fighters in the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to lay down their weapons or “be buried.” Turkey made similar demands in 2015 and 2018.
The 2011 onset of the Syrian civil war created a vacuum in their region, which the Kurds filled in 2012 by establishing an autonomous zone.
Since the division of Kurdistan into different countries as colonial powers drew the borders of modern nation-states, Kurds have fought to defend themselves and secure self-determination. Kurdish resistance in Turkey began shortly after the establishment of the modern Turkish Republic in 1924 but gained momentum in 1984 with the PKK’s founding. The 2011 onset of the Syrian civil war created a vacuum in their region, which the Kurds filled in 2012 by establishing an autonomous zone. They formed militias —the People’s Defense Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ)— both of which allied with the United States under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State. For Turkey, however, these are distinctions without a difference: Turks label any Kurds who are not subordinate to Ankara as extensions of the PKK.
Turkey has attacked the SDF repeatedly since 2018. Following the Assad regime’s fall in Syria, Turkish-backed groups, including Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and the Syrian National Army, invaded the Kurdish-controlled areas. Turkey’s warning for the SDF to disarm came after more than 20 days of unsuccessful attempts by its proxies to capture the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates.
Turkey’s ultimatum coincides with its “peace” initiative that it says will address its enduring domestic Kurdish issue. However, this lacks credibility. Turkey continues to occupy and Turkify Kurdish regions in Syria, displacing Kurds and engaging in ethnic cleansing.
While Öcalan calls for a “fraternity” between Kurds and Turks, achieving this requires sweeping reforms. At a minimum, Turkey must amend its constitution, which denies the existence of non-Turkish nationalities. This also would necessitate correcting a century of nationalist historiography, dismantling state-sponsored ethnocentrism, and persuading nationalist factions within Turkey.
Ankara must withdraw from Kurdish regions it occupied under the guise of fighting “terrorism” in Kurdistani regions of Syria and Iraq.
Turkey’s demands for Kurdish disarmament are both premature and flawed. Prior to any disarmament, Ankara must withdraw from Kurdish regions it occupied under the guise of fighting “terrorism” in Kurdistani regions of Syria and Iraq. It must cease ethnic cleansing and demographic engineering in Kurdish territories and repeal policies suppressing Kurdish political representation, including the removal of elected Kurdish mayors, stripping parliamentary immunity from Kurdish parliamentarians and charging them with supporting “terrorism.” Turkey also must comply with the European Court of Human Rights’ orders to release Kurdish members of Turkey’s parliament, including Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been imprisoned since 2016. Constitutional reforms recognizing the Kurds as a distinct nation within Turkey are essential for any genuine peace process to take root.
Allowing Öcalan to receive political visitors after being held incommunicado since 2019 is cynical. Turkey’s goal has less to do with addressing its own Kurdish issue and more to do with preventing the Kurds from securing recognition of autonomy in Syria. The Turks view the creation of a second Kurdish entity or a potential independent, sovereign Kurdistan with a trained army, following the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, as a threat to its own territory, home to over 25 million Kurds.
Until Turkey demonstrates a willingness to address fundamental issues, its demands for Kurdish disarmament will remain hollow. As Öcalan pointed out during the meeting, the Turkish state must “act constructively and contribute positively” toward concrete and real “democratic transformation.” Recognizing the right to self-determination for the Kurds, in the form of autonomy, self-governance, and even independence for Kurdistan, is principal for such a transformative change. Conversely, abandoning arms prematurely would be catastrophic for Kurds across all of Kurdistan. It would expose them to Turkish aggression, undermine their autonomy, and solidify Ankara’s dominance in the Middle East.
