17.07.2025

Cauldron of conflict

Abdullah Öcalan’s call for the PKK to disband and disarm has seen well-publicised ceremonies. Meanwhile, regional developments point to war, rather than peace, writes Esen Uslu

On July 9 a seven-minute video of a speech by Abdullah Öcalan was filmed on the prison island of İmralı. Flanked by six other long-term PKK prisoners - all wearing civilian clothes and all transferred to İmrali to serve as his secretariat - Öcalan was seen for the first time this century by the public.¹

In February, Öcalan’s ‘Call for peace and a democratic society’ was read by MPs from the People’s Democracy and Equality Party (DEM) and a party delegation was allowed to visit him on İmralı. At the time the minister of justice stated that releasing a video message was not legally permissible. Now the state deems it appropriate to allow his message to be viewed. While the state-owned news agency TV channels preferred not to broadcast it, the video was widely viewed online.

The overwhelming response has been that he is doing his utmost to keep the peace process on track, as the ‘farewell to arms’ deadline is fast approaching. His command and control over the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), as well as the Kurdish freedom movement in general, will be tested to the limit. There are certainly many unresolved stumbling blocks on the way to disarmament - and the state’s permission to release the video reflected the same concerns.

New steps

In his speech, Öcalan said: “By convening the PKK’s 12th Dissolution Congress, you provided a comprehensive, positive response to my call.” And he continued: “The achieved level necessitates new steps for implementation.” But the crucial part of the message was:

As a necessity of the process it is important to voluntarily take the weapons away and to ensure the comprehensive activities of a legally authorised commission established in the TBMM [Turkish Grand National Assembly]. While being wary of descending into illogical ‘you first, me next’ approaches, the necessary step should inexorably be taken …

You should take it in your stride that your ensuring of the laying down of arms, before the witness of the public and related circles, would not only count with the Turkish Grand National Assembly and the commission, but also reassure the public and honour our promises. The establishment of a mechanism to lay down arms will take the process forward. What has been done is a voluntary transition from the phase of armed struggle to the phase of democratic politics and law. This is not a loss, but has to be regarded as a historical gain. The details of the laying down of arms will be specified and expeditiously implemented.²

When he issued this call, the formation of a parliamentary commission was not a set issue. There were speeches referring to such a possibility by MPs from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), but the government was not committed to form such a commission. It is apparent that the talks between Öcalan and representatives of the state have come to a certain conclusion - a kind of agreed route-map.

The first symbolic step in the laying down the arms process was started by the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq. A selected delegation of press, voluntary organisations and human rights observers were invited to witness the procedure. Everything about the ceremony was kept under wraps until the last moment.

But on July 11, in front of the Jasane Cave in the Sulaymaniyah governate, a stage was set-up for the ceremony and the visitors were brought there with strict security precautions. The Jasane Cave has a symbolic importance for the Kurdish freedom movement. In the 1920s, sheik Mahud Berzenji led the revolt against the occupying British forces and the Jasane Cave became his stronghold. His newspaper Bangi Haq (‘Call for Justice’) was based there. In the 1970s the cave served as the HQ for both the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) and the YNK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan).

The ceremony featured thirty PKK guerrillas - 15 male and 15 female, led by Bese Hozat, a female member of the PKK leadership - stepped out of the cave, and walked down the stairs to the platform carrying assault rifles. She and three others were seated at the table on the platform, and the guerrillas stood in parade formation behind them. Behind them was a backdrop of Öcalan’s picture. There was a parasol-covered seating area for visitors, and in between them a large cauldron stacked with firewood.

Bese Hozat read a statement from the ‘Group for Peace and Democratic Society’:

In order to ensure the practical success of the ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ process, to wage our freedom, democracy and socialist struggle with methods of legal and democratic politics on the basis of enacting laws for democratic integration, we voluntarily destroy our weapons, before your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination …

As you know, things did not come about with ease, at no cost, and without waging struggle. Quite the contrary, all gains came at a heavy cost, through struggling tooth and claw. And what follows will definitely need compelling struggle. We are well aware of this fact.³

Then the guerrillas marched to the cauldron one by one and first placed their assault rifles, then their sidearms into the cauldron. They were very emotional, but all of them kept their control. A female guerrilla placed the last weapon into the cauldron and then Bese Hozat set light to the fire and the armaments burnt. So they were not surrendered, but rendered useless. Then the guerrillas all marched back into Jasane Cave in single file. So ended the ceremonial first step of disarmament.

Old problems

While all this was happening, the conflict in the region was increasing, threatening to put an end to the Kurdish freedom movement’s immediate hopes.

In the Kurdish region of Iraq, dissent began to emerge. In Erbil and Duhok, aerial attacks carried out by armed drones over two successive days rendered the oilfields unusable, while another attack on Erbil airport was thwarted. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Iraqi Kurdistan security sources said initial investigations suggest that the drones came from areas under the control of Iranian-backed militias.

The Sarsang oilfield is operated by HKN Energy, a privately held US oil and gas company active in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. A few months ago, HKN was under pressure because it was operating in the Kurdish region without a licence from the central government. Now US secretary of state Marco Rubio is pressing ahead for increased oil production and asking everyone to respect the licences provided by the Kurdish region.

Just days before the burning of arms a clash between two tribal confederations took place. Members of the security forces, as well as some in the Harki tribe were killed. The conflict, due to a long-running land dispute, looked like it could turn into a full scale war with the Harkis, who inhabit three countries. Roadblocks and other such measures could have stopped the ceremony, which had been prepared well in advance, and would have been a serious embarrassment to the regime in the Kurdish Autonomous Region. Only a quick intervention of Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the region, saved the day. However, the underlying tensions remain palpable.

Barzani’s problems did not end with the temporary resolution of the Harki dispute. A major hurdle awaiting him is unifying the KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan peshmerga forces under a single chain of command. Together they would constitute a 100,000 strong army. Ten brigades have been formed under the auspices of US forces, and the final brigade is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

US regional commander general Kevin Leahy met with Barzani, and urged him to make progress and avoid backtracking. During their meeting the continuing Islamic State threat and cooperation between the Iraqi army, the peshmergas and the US forces were the prominent subjects. While supporting the Pax Americana, the Pentagon has allocated substantial arms and financial resources to regional players, including the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The debate over whether Öcalan’s call for disarmament covers the YPG (the People’s Protection Units in Syria), may rely on an answer from the US. If the PKK ceases to exist, the YPG would become an independent entity, no longer tainted by its earlier association. As long as the YPG is somehow incorporated into the newly formed Syrian army, it would be acceptable to the USA.

However, US policy-makers have a difficult balancing act on their hands - playing long and short at the same time. They want the new Syrian regime to bury the hatchet with Israel, accept the loss of territory, including Mount Hermon and villages in the Golan Heights occupied by Israel in recent months, and make peace by joining the Abraham Accords. Israel’s staunch ally, Azerbaijan, provided a platform in its capital, Baku, for Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa to meet an Israeli delegation face to face. However, initial reports indicated that the talks failed to achieve the desired outcome.

The Israeli delegation included Benjamin Netanyahu’s special envoy, as well as top-level military and security officers, who were part of the negotiations with the Damascus government. They discussed issues related to Iran’s presence in Syria, Hezbollah’s weapons and the armed Palestinian groups based in Syrian territory and in Lebanon. Israel wants a demilitarised zone south of Damascus. But besides the possibility of Israel opening a permanent coordination office, there was no agreement apart from agreeing to keep on meeting.

There are also Islamist attacks in the Druze-dominated region near the Jordanian border in the south. Kidnappings, assaults and killings have happened under the guise of lawless actions carried out by Bedouin tribesmen. After the Alawite community along the Mediterranean coast was repressed in the same manner under the al-Sharaa government’s benign gaze, the Islamists have now turned their attentions to the 700,000 strong Druze population in Syria.

New army

The newly formed Syrian army moved into the mainly Druze city of Suweyda under the pretext of defending public order. A curfew was declared, and the confiscation of arms and ammunition from the Druze population began. Israel, claiming to have received desperate calls from its allies under sheik Hikmat al-Hijri, has upped its intervention in Syria. IDF planes struck at army columns, even the military HQ in Damascus. The Israeli army has also crossed the line of control under the pretext of returning its own Druze citizens who had crossed into Syria under the pretext of defending their relatives.

This emerging pattern - first applied to the Alawites and now to the Druze - bodes ill for the Syrian Kurds. Once those two regions have been suppressed, it will be the turn of the Kurds. Attempts to split the SDF into Arab and Kurdish components have been ongoing for some time. With Turkey pressing for the disarmament of Kurdish units in the SDF, internal fighting has flared up. The Hamzat and Sultan Murad brigades started fighting each other in the Hasakah governorate of Rojava. The clash happened very close to the centre of Rojava, the seat of power of the SDF, but the two brigades are not part of the SDF, they are part of the Turkey-sponsored Syrian National Army. Heavy artillery fire devastated large parts of the city of Serekaniye. All this is happening in the heartland of the Kurdish-controlled region.

Before he has been able to delve into the thorny issues within Turkey itself, regional conflicts have already created severe obstacles for Öcalan’s peace project.

1. For the full video see www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6VvJedBvXY.↩︎

2. For the translation of Öcalan’s speech, see bianet.org/haber/pkk-leader-ocalan-releases-first-video-message-in-26-years-ahead-of-disarmament-ceremony-309294.↩︎

3. For the translation of Bese Hozat’s speech, see bianet.org/haber/full-text-pkk-statement-during-disarmament-ceremony-309371.↩︎