ISTANBUL: Jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan stressed his determination to see through ongoing peace efforts with Turkiye, while urging Ankara to finalize the legal groundwork for the process in remarks published Wednesday.
His comments came more than six months after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkiye, after four decades of violence that claimed some 50,000 lives on both sides.
“This process is a process of ensuring the participation of Kurds in the (Turkish) republic through legal means and building a democratic republic with the broadest social unity,” Ocalan said in a message released through a delegation from the pro-Kurdish DEM party who visited him a day earlier.
“I would like to reiterate our strong will and resolute stance with respect to this process.”
Ocalan, 76, has led the peace process from his cell on Imrali prison island near Istanbul, where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999.
His remarks came just days after a senior PKK commander told AFP the group would take no further steps in the peace process until Turkiye frees Ocalan, whom his followers refer to as “Apo.”
“All the steps the leader Apo has initiated have been implemented... there will be no further actions taken,” commander Amed Malazgirt told AFP on Saturday in a bunker in the Qandil mountains in northern Iraq.
“From now on, we will be waiting for the Turkish state and they have to be the one taking steps,” he said.
Jailed PKK chief stresses ‘strong’ commitment to peace process
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Jailed PKK chief stresses ‘strong’ commitment to peace process
- “This process is a process of ensuring the participation of Kurds in the (Turkish) republic through legal means,” Ocalan said
- “I would like to reiterate our strong will and resolute stance with respect to this process”
Tunisian police clash with youths in Kairouan after man’s death
- Tunisia President Kais Saied shut down parliament and began ruling by decree in 2021 in what he called a move to root out rampant corruption and mismanagement, but which the opposition called a coup
TUNIS: Clashes erupted for a second night on Saturday between police and youths in the central Tunisian city of Kairouan after a man died following a police chase, according to his family, fueling authorities’ fears that protests could spread across the country. As Tunisia prepares to mark the January anniversary of the 2011 revolution, which sparked the Arab Spring uprising, tensions have risen amid protests, and a powerful UGTT union call for a nationwide strike next month. Thousands have been protesting for weeks in the southern city of Gabes, demanding the closure of a chemical plant on environmental grounds.
Witnesses said demonstrators in Kairouan threw stones, petrol bombs and flares, and blocked streets by burning tires, prompting police to disperse crowds with tear gas.
The family said the man, riding a motorcycle without a license, was chased by police, beaten, and taken to a hospital. He later fled and died on Friday from a head injury.
The government was not immediately available to comment. Relatives of the deceased said they will not remain silent and will spark major protests if those responsible are not held accountable.
In a bid to defuse tensions, Kairouan’s governor visited the family on Saturday evening and pledged to open an investigation to determine the circumstances of the death and establish accountability, witnesses said.
Tunisia President Kais Saied shut down parliament and began ruling by decree in 2021 in what he called a move to root out rampant corruption and mismanagement, but which the opposition called a coup.
Rights groups accuse Saied of using the judiciary and police to stifle criticism, something that Saied denies.
