Abdullah Öcalan calls on Ankara for direct dialogue with the SDF

The leader of the dissolved Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, called on the Turkish government to deal with Syria more sensitively as an independent state, not to interfere in its internal affairs, and to conduct direct dialogue with the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), of which the Kurds are the main pillar.

As Türkiye continues to take steps to resolve the Kurdish issue under what the government calls the ” Türkiye-Free Türkiye Initiative,” which Öcalan and the Kurds call the peace process and democratic society,” as the imprisoned PKK leader has shown renewed support for keeping northeast Syria under Kurdish administration.

This came in statements made by the deputy of the city of Şanlıurfa in southeastern Türkiye of the pro-Kurdish “Democracy and Equality for Peoples” party, and Turkish parliament member, Ömer Öcalan, after meeting with his uncle, Abdullah Öcalan, in his prison in İmralı prison in western Türkiye on October 31, pointing out that he addressed Turkey’s concerns about Syria.

In a call for dialogue between Türkiye and the Syrian Kurds, Öcalan was quoted as saying that there is a need for Türkiye to discuss its concerns with the parties concerned, and the Turkish state should deal with Syria with more sensitivity, as it’s an independent country, and it should not interfere too much in its internal affairs.

He added, “If we want to develop a relationship, there are officials, politicians and Kurdish leaders there, the commander of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi which is led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and is a Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) may be the best candidate, instead of Syrian transitional president, Ahmed al Sharaa, and Ilham Ahmed, the co-head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Kurdish Autonomous Administration in northern and eastern Syria, may be the best candidate to conduct dialogue and develop the relationship.

Öcalan continued, “Rojava” (a term used by the Kurdish elite for the regions of northern and eastern Syria and refers to western Kurdistan) is a place that is being watched by the eyes of the whole world, and if there is any sensitivity in Türkiye, a dialogue should be held with the officials of the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF)… Anyone can wage war, but building requires vision”.

Öcalan said that the system that the Kurds will build in Syria should aim to systematically influence the entire country, and that if this system is actually built, Syria will become a livable country.

Öcalan, who launched an appeal from his prison on February 27 to disband the PKK, disarm it and engage in political action within a democratic legal framework, has previously stressed that Rojava (northern and eastern Syria) is a redline for him.

Türkiye says that Öcalan’s call includes all the extensions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), especially the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which leads the SDF, while the SDF, through its leader, Mazloum Abdi, has confirmed that it is not interested in Öcalan’s call.

Ankara is pressing to get the SDF to commit to implementing the March 10 agreement signed in Damascus between Syrian government led by Ahmed al Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi on the integration of the SDF into the army and security institutions in Syria.

The Peoples’ Democracy and Equality Party, which leads contacts between Öcalan and Türkiye’s state, parliament and parties, criticizes the Ankara government’s stance, stressing that “the peace process in Türkiye cannot be viewed from the perspective of Damascus, and while we achieve peace with the Kurds of Türkiye, we must also achieve peace with the Kurds of Syria, Iraq and Iran”.

In a previous letter dated July 28 to the leaders and notables of Arab tribes in the north eastern Syria, Deir Ezzor, Raqqa, Öcalan called for strengthening the ties of brotherhood with the Kurds and supporting the SDF in the face of challenges.

“The historical relationship between Arabs and Kurds is the main guarantee of Syria’s unity and stability,” Öcalan said, stressing the democratic nation project as an inclusive framework for building a secure and democratic state.

He pointed out that the unity of the Arab tribes and their support for the Kurds, based on the democratic system of the nation, has a deep meaning, and that with this unity, the tribes lay a new historical foundation that believes in the relationship and alliance between the Arab and Kurdish peoples.