Version imprimableTurkish government negotiations with the PKK
The Turkish government is demanding that the HKG, the PKK’s armed wing, surrender its weapons and that the PKK disband. Murat Karayilan and Duran Kalkan, the two historic leaders of the armed wing, while supporting Abdullah Öcalan’s appeal, are setting conditions. One is that Turkish attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan must cease, otherwise the HKG will continue to defend itself. The other is for the PKK to hold a representative congress to dissolve the party, with free and secure access for delegates.
The leader of the MHP party - a far-right party in alliance in government with Erdoğan’s AKP - Bahçeli, has just proposed a venue: the town of Mazargit, in Turkey’s Kurdish region. The idea would be to bring together PKK cadres and leaders at a venue chosen by the Turkish state, which would be an act of faith rather than trust.
All the more so as, while Bahçeli is extremely voluble on the question of negotiations, Erdoğan and the AKP remain silent.
Erdoğan has another project in mind: to be re-elected president at the next presidential elections, scheduled for 2028 but probably brought forward. He cannot stand for a third term, unless his second term is shortened for some reason. In that case, he would need the agreement of three-fifths of Parliament. Rumour has it that negotiations over the release of Öcalan and other political prisoners may have something to do with this crucial vote for Erdoğan. But it is unlikely that the HDP/DEM elected representatives will roll out the red carpet for Erdoğan’s third term in office.
To ensure his victory, Erdoğan had Ekrem Imamoğlu, the very popular mayor of Istanbul, jailed on March 24, having already prevented him from running in the last presidential elections by putting him on trial for “insulting a member of the electoral commission”. This time, he’s accusing him of not having obtained his university degree from 30 years ago, required to stand for election, and of having links with a terrorist organization (the PKK).
Imamoğlu has been incarcerated in the notorious Silivri prison, a huge 20,000-place complex, with no possibility of contact with other inmates. This arrest has not gone down well with a large part of the Turkish population. Imamoğlu is the president of the CHP, the Kemalist party that has been the mainstay of the Turkish state for decades. Since 22 March, huge demonstrations have been taking place in both large and small towns. Can this popular movement push back Erdoğan, who holds all the powers - police, army and judiciary? Nothing is less certain.
L’Anticapitaliste 27 March 2025
