DEM Party Slams Turkey's Hesitant PKK Peace Process
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- DEM co-chair Tulay Hatimogullari told party MPs the Turkish government was 'failing to match the momentum' of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan's February 2025 call to lay down arms
- The PKK halted attacks and announced in May 2025 it had decided to disband and end its armed struggle, but Ankara insists it must do more and that disarmament must be verified before broader legal or political steps
- A Turkish parliamentary commission voted overwhelmingly in February to approve a roadmap report for legal reforms alongside PKK disbandment, shifting the process into the legislative arena
- DEM, parliament's third-biggest party, helped facilitate initial peace steps between the Turkish state and the PKK and now says the government is acting in a 'hesitant, timid and stalling manner'
- Hatimogullari warned that continued delays risked derailing the broader peace process, as the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people since 1984 and spilled instability into Iraq and Syria
Why it matters: With the PKK already announcing disbandment in May 2025 and a parliamentary commission having approved a legal reform roadmap, the bottleneck is squarely on Ankara's willingness to follow through. Hatimogullari's warning that delays could collapse the process puts direct political pressure on Erdogan's government to deliver legal reforms — or watch a year of momentum evaporate.
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