Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the Ministry of National Defense recently made statements regarding Iranian Kurds, bringing debates about Turkey’s Kurdish policy back to the agenda. While Fidan said that Ankara is closely following developments related to the “Alliance of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan,” announced by five Kurdish parties in Iran, the Ministry of National Defense stated that the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) poses a threat.
Sezai Temelli, Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Group of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), criticized this approach, saying that Turkey has long confined its foreign policy to hostility toward Kurds and has failed to produce genuine and sincere policies in favor of peoples.
Temelli said that it is necessary to stand with Kurds who are targeted by the Iranian regime, stressing that peoples should not be forced to choose between two negative options and that a third way represents the only path toward peace.
We are not forced to choose between two evils
Sezai Temelli said the war unfolding in Iran is not a local conflict but a process that concerns all countries in the region as well as international actors. Temelli said: “First of all, the war currently taking place in Iran between the United States, Israel and Iran is not a local war. It is a war of a scale that concerns all countries of the region and even all international structures. The possibility of the war growing and expanding is extremely high. For this reason, we are watching all these developments with great concern.”
Temelli pointed out that one of the reasons behind the war is the Iranian regime’s oppressive policies toward peoples, while also recalling that imperial powers have continuously been involved in struggles for domination in the region. He stressed that it is the peoples who remain trapped between these two dilemmas and the spiral of violence.
Temelli said that these realities make it necessary for peoples to defend a third way and continued: “All these realities are clear, and therefore we say that we must stand on the side of developments that will benefit peoples. Standing in a position that supports authoritarian regimes or this war is not our choice. We insist that the third way is a path of liberation for peoples, workers and women, and that this is the reference point of our paradigm. Of course, this struggle is based on building an organized society, an organized resistance and constructing the future with an understanding of democratic society. That is precisely why we struggle with such determination.
Peoples, organized peoples or resistances are not necessarily forced to rely on one of two evils. They are not obliged to choose between two evils. They must continue their struggle on the path of liberation they believe to be right.”
Turkey fails to read developments in favor of peoples
Sezai Temelli said that Turkey has long failed to properly interpret developments in the Middle East and has been unable to produce policies that benefit the peoples of the region.
Temelli said: “Unfortunately, Turkey has not been able to develop policies that would benefit Turks, Kurds and the peoples living in the region, and it has constantly drifted from one position to another. This state of lacking a coherent foreign policy has directly affected both domestic politics and many of Turkey’s internal issues. Turkey has long lived as a country of crises and has always sought the excuse for this outside its borders. Yet the real reason was Turkey’s lack of a foreign policy and, more broadly, a lack of politics.
Does Turkey have a strategic mind? That is debatable. And if it does, this mind appears only when developments involving hostility toward Kurds arise. At a moment when the region stands on the brink of such a major war, when this war is unfolding to the east of Turkey, the statements coming from Turkey’s Foreign and Defense ministers still reflect the same rigid mentality that has persisted for decades. In other words, wherever there is a Kurd, your only policy is to oppose them.”
Temelli also referred to the examples of Syria and Iraq, saying that Turkey’s foreign policy has not gone beyond taking a position against Kurds living outside its borders and that anti-Kurdish policies have even led Ankara to stand alongside Israel.”
Temelli added: “Instead of interpreting developments in Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat) and Iran from the right perspective, Turkey once again directs all its attention and energy toward positioning itself against Kurdistan and the Kurds in Iran. We already know this from Syria, and even earlier from Iraq. We know what role Turkey played during the construction processes in Southern Kurdistan (Başur) and how relations developed afterwards. In Syria, we saw the relations established with Assad, and after Assad with Sharaa, and even how, due to anti-Kurdish policies in Syria, Turkey could find itself standing alongside Israel. We see the same thing today regarding Iran. Unfortunately, Turkey’s foreign policy has never gone beyond taking a position against Kurds living outside its borders. And it still has not.”
Sincere policy is essential for lasting peace with Kurds
Sezai Temelli said that developments aimed at building lasting peace between Turks and Kurds are taking place in Turkey but stressed that a sincere policy is necessary for a durable peace.
Temelli also said: “Developments are taking place in Turkey to build lasting peace between Turks and Kurds within Turkey’s borders. However, this issue cannot be confined within borders. For this reason, you must also take Kurds outside the borders into consideration and produce realistic, genuine and sincere policies in this regard. If we read correctly the statements made by Mr. Öcalan on February 27, 2025, and February 27, 2026, they point to the necessity of moving from a discourse of brotherhood toward a legal framework and establishing the foundations of such a legal ground. What we call law is also the place where your policies are determined.”
Temelli added that, in this context, Turkey must abandon its past hostile approaches and said: “If you are sincere about creating lasting peace, you can no longer look at Kurds outside your borders through the same lens. Therefore, instead of the concept of ‘terror’ and those hostile approaches of the past, you must recognize that the legal framework you are trying to establish in this country should also constitute the basis of both your foreign and domestic policies. Unfortunately, we do not see this. Because we do not see it, this approach will increase risks both in the region and in Turkey. Today, Kurds are the target of the Iranian regime.
It is necessary to stand with the Kurds who are targeted by the Iranian regime and to defend Eastern Kurdistan. If you fail to do so, you will be putting the lives of all peoples in that region, especially the Kurdish people, at risk. This is our expectation from Turkey. Turkey must now draw the necessary lessons from the past and must not repeat the same mistakes once again.”
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