The year 2025 has undoubtedly gone down in history as a year in which a very significant process unfolded regarding Kurdistan and the Kurdish question. The process began on February 27 with Abdullah Öcalan’s’s “Call for Peace and a Democratic Society.”
Following the call, the PKK convened its 12th Congress and announced a “decision of dissolution.” In July, a ceremony was held to burn weapons. Afterward, it was announced that the armed forces affiliated with the PKK had withdrawn from Turkey.
On the Turkish side, a commission was established within the parliament. Members of this commission went to İmralı Island and met with Öcalan. Thus, Öcalan, recognized by the Kurdish Freedom Movement as the chief negotiator, was officially accepted as an interlocutor by the Turkish state.
However, despite the process, doubts remain public, especially among the Kurdish people, regarding the state’s approach. Faysal Sarıyıldız, co-representative of the DEM Party in Germany, who has lived in exile in Germany since 2016 and participates in work with the Kurdish diaspora, gave an assessment of the process.
Sarıyıldız emphasized that the current stage must be correctly understood and drew attention to a short sentence included in the most recent meeting notes. He said that Öcalan’s’s words – “With our 50 years of struggle, we carried out the battle for the existence and dignity of the Kurds. We succeeded. Now it is time to build a democratic life in Turkey where everyone can live together, equal and free” – summarize the process.
Highlighting that these words reveal the transformation in Kurdistan compared to 50 years ago, Sarıyıldız conveyed that the era in which “even saying ‘I am Kurdish’ was a crime” has given way to today, and that an enormous consciousness has developed in Northern Kurdistan. He noted that what happened in Rojava represents a revolution not only for Kurds but for humanity.
Sarıyıldız pointed out that the process began a year ago with Devlet Bahçeli’s call, “Let the weapons be laid down, let it be discussed in parliament,” and emphasized that the goal is for weapons to no longer be a tool of struggle. Nevertheless, he stated that the state has not responded with the same seriousness and has not yet taken the necessary steps.
Drawing attention to the fact that the Kurdish people’s trust in the state is very weak due to the aggressive policies pursued by the Turkish state over the last 100 years against all legitimate, democratic, and freedom-oriented demands, Sarıyıldız stressed that after Öcalan’s statement on February 27, the symbolic burning of weapons, and the announcement of the Kurdish Freedom Movement’s withdrawal decision, legal and democratic foundations must be established for the process to progress.
Sarıyıldız criticized the fact that the state still treats the process as a tool of bargaining and blackmail, and described bargaining over Rojava’s achievements as absurd. He emphasized that in Rojava, an equal and free life is being built for all peoples and faiths, and that the entire Middle East needs this.
Pointing out that since 2015 Turkish society has been manipulated with religious and nationalist rhetoric, Sarıyıldız stated that political power approaches the process through the lens of its own survival, which deepens uncertainty. Nevertheless, he noted that parliament members representing Turkish society meeting Leader Apo in Imralı is a significant development and that, whether desired or not, a situation of mutual recognition has emerged.
Sarıyıldız stressed that as a requirement of the process, guerrillas in the mountains, politicians in exile, and thousands of imprisoned politicians should be released and included in legal and democratic struggle arenas. He added that continuing to treat the process as a subject of bargaining remains a serious problem.
Finally, Faysal Sarıyıldız recalled that in previous examples such as Ireland, the Basque Country, and Catalonia, mass democratic actions were decisive in periods when weapons ceased to be instruments of struggle. He emphasized that in Kurdistan as well, this process will develop through the strength of the people, and that mass demonstrations attended by hundreds of thousands will pressure the state to take action.