Imprisoned Kurdish Leader Signals Readiness for Peace Talks in Turkey

Abdullah Öcalan expresses willingness to support a new peace initiative proposed by Turkish officials, marking a potential shift in the decades-long conflict.

Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has expressed his readiness to contribute to a peace process with Turkey, according to a statement by the pro-Kurdish DEM Party.
This development follows an unexpected proposal by Devlet Bahçeli, leader of Turkey's nationalist MHP party, inviting Öcalan to renounce violence and dissolve the PKK in exchange for potential concessions.
The Turkish government approved a rare visit to Öcalan by DEM lawmakers, the first in nearly a decade, during which Öcalan emphasized the urgency of resolving the Kurdish issue through dialogue.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has described the initiative as a 'historic window of opportunity,' though skepticism remains following a recent PKK-claimed attack in Ankara and subsequent military strikes on Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria.
Öcalan framed the reconciliation effort as a 'historical responsibility' and stressed that peace, democracy, and Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood are essential for the region's future stability.