Devlet Bahçeli

A remarkable contact that took place on October 1, 2024, at the opening of the new legislative year of the TBMM, was interpreted as a harbinger of a “new political climate” in public opinion. Bahçeli went to the DEM Party rows and shook hands with Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan and other deputies. This gesture created wide repercussions both in the Parliament hall and in public opinion. When journalists asked about the meaning of this handshake, Bahçeli said, “We are entering a new era. While we want peace in the world, we must also establish peace in our own country.”

On the same day, in his speech at the General Assembly of the Parliament, President Erdoğan also used the expressions: “It must now be accepted as a fact. Today, against Israeli aggression, both at home and abroad, grounds for reconciliation must be brought to the fore rather than fields of conflict.”

Following these statements, on October 22, 2024, at his party’s group meeting, Bahçeli directly addressed Öcalan and made the following call: “If the isolation is lifted, let him come and speak at the DEM Party group meeting in the TBMM, and let him shout that terrorism has completely ended and the organization has been disbanded. If he shows this determination and resolve, the way for the legal regulation regarding the use of the right of hope will be opened wide… Here is the challenge, we are ready for it.”

On October 24, 2024, DEM Party Urfa MP Ömer Öcalan announced that they had met with Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı the previous day and shared Öcalan’s message: “The isolation continues. If the conditions are formed, I have the theoretical and practical power to pull this process from the ground of conflict and violence to the legal and political ground.”

However, these signs towards a solution and peace in the Kurdish issue were overshadowed by ongoing trustee appointments and ban decisions. The practices of the Ministry of Interior once again raised the question: “Is a solution really wanted in the Kurdish issue?”

Ahmet Özer, who was elected Mayor of Esenyurt within the scope of the “urban consensus” made between the CHP and the DEM Party in the local elections, was arrested on October 30, 2024, on charges of “membership in the PKK/KCK armed terrorist organization.” The next day, Istanbul Deputy Governor Can Aksoy was appointed as trustee in his place.

Subsequently, in November 2024, trustees were appointed one after another to the DEM Party municipalities of Mardin, Batman, Urfa Halfeti, Dersim, and Van Bahçesaray, on the grounds of “terrorism” sentences against the co-mayors.

On top of all this, on November 21, 2024, the lawyers of the Asrın Law Office, who had requested a meeting with Öcalan, learned that a new six-month ban on lawyer visits to their client Öcalan had been imposed on November 6.

On November 26, Bahçeli said at his party’s TBMM Group Meeting: “We stand exactly behind what we have said since our group meeting on October 22, 2024. We expect face-to-face contact between İmralı and the DEM Group without delay, and we repeat our call with determination.”

After a long period, on December 28, 2024, DEM Party MPs Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Pervin Buldan met with Öcalan in İmralı. The next day, the delegation shared Öcalan’s message with the public: “Strengthening Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood again is a historic responsibility.”

Then, on December 30, 2024, KCK Executive Council Co-Chair Besê Hozat, in her statement to Medya Haber, said: “We stand behind the solution will shown by our Leadership. The Turkish state, the AKP-MHP government, the government and the opposition as a whole, the state itself must show a real solution will.”

Throughout January 2025, the İmralı Delegation held meetings with the parties with groups in the TBMM: MHP, AKP, CHP, Future Party, DEVA Party, Felicity Party, and New Welfare Party. After these meetings, the delegation met with Öcalan for the second time on January 22, 2025.

On February 13, 2025, KCK Executive Council Co-Chair Cemil Bayık stated that they had received a letter from Öcalan and said, “We are carrying out a work to pull the Kurdish issue from the ground of war to the ground of democratization.” However, two days after this statement, on February 15, on the anniversary of Öcalan’s capture in Turkey, the Ministry of Interior appointed a trustee to Van Metropolitan Municipality.

While these developments were taking place, on February 18, 2025, operations were carried out against the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK). A total of 52 people, including political party executives, unionists, artists, and journalists, were detained; 30 of them were arrested on February 21. HDK Co-Spokesperson Meral Danış Beştaş criticized these operations by calling them “a conspiracy against peace.”

The DEM Party delegation met with Öcalan in İmralı on February 27, 2025. After the meeting, the delegation shared Öcalan’s message with the public in Istanbul.

In the message titled “Call for Peace and Democratic Society,” Öcalan used the following expressions: “In this climate formed by Mr. Devlet Bahçeli’s call, Mr. President’s demonstrated will, and the positive approaches of other political parties to the known call, I am making a call to lay down arms and I take on the historic responsibility of this call. Like every contemporary society and party whose existence has not been forcibly terminated, convene your congress and decide for integration with the state and society; all groups should lay down their arms and the PKK should dissolve itself.”

Following Öcalan’s call, the PKK announced a ceasefire on March 1. In its statement, the PKK said: “To open the way for the implementation of the Call for Peace and Democratic Society, we declare a ceasefire effective from today. Beyond that, matters such as laying down arms can only be realized with the practical leadership of Leader Apo. We are ready to hold the party congress in the way Leader Apo wants. However, for this to happen, a secure environment must be formed and Leader Apo’s personal guidance and execution are required for the success of the congress.”

Afterwards, Kurds celebrated Newroz 2025 on March 21 with the participation of millions of people in four parts of Kurdistan and many cities around the world. The intensity of participation in Newroz was interpreted by the Kurdish press as support for Öcalan’s call.

After Newroz, the agenda was shaken by the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality President Ekrem İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu, who was detained on March 19, 2025, within the scope of investigations initiated on charges of “terrorism” and “corruption” regarding the “urban consensus,” was arrested on March 23, 2025. The Kurdish movement evaluated İmamoğlu’s arrest as a “provocative intervention” in the process.

Shortly after, DEM Party Istanbul MP and İmralı delegation member Sırrı Süreyya Önder was taken to the hospital on April 15 due to a heart condition he suffered in Istanbul. Önder fought for life in intensive care for 18 days but could not be saved and passed away on May 3, 2025. Thousands of people bid farewell to Önder on his final journey with the slogan “Our word to Sırrı will be peace.”

Five days after the funeral, the DEM Party made a statement: “On April 2, the parking attendant noticed a sound coming from the tires while using Sırrı Süreyya Önder’s vehicle and took the vehicle to the service. In the examination, a sharp metal device made of iron that could puncture the left rear tire was found placed there.” After this information was shared, the question “Was an assassination carried out against Sırrı Süreyya?” began to be discussed in public opinion.

During the days when Önder’s mourning was observed, on May 12, 2025, the PKK announced that it had dissolved itself and laid down its arms. In its statement, the PKK said: “Our congress was held safely despite the difficult conditions in which conflicts continued, aerial and ground attacks continued, and the siege on our areas and the KDP embargo continued… The PKK has completed its historic mission. The 12th Congress of the PKK has decided to dissolve the organizational structure of the PKK and end the armed struggle method, thus ending the activities carried out under the name of the PKK.” Following this decision, many discussions for and against began in different circles, and the question “What steps will the state take?” settled on the agenda of society. In the statement from the KCK, it was announced that many forces that did not want the PKK to lay down arms wanted to meet with the KCK.

Öcalan made a new call on July 9, 2025. This time, however, his call was a video call. This was Öcalan’s first video appearance since 1999. In the video, Öcalan said, “I continue to defend the Call for Peace and Democratic Society dated February 27, 2025,” and stated, “As a general aspect of the process, the voluntary laying down of arms and the comprehensive commission work to be established by law in the TBMM are important.”

Based on Öcalan’s words in this video message — “Without falling into the sterility of ‘you first, me first,’ attention and sensitivity must be shown in taking steps” — the KCK took the first step. Under the leadership of KCK Executive Council Co-Chair Besê Hozat, the “Peace and Democratic Society Group,” consisting of 30 guerrillas, 15 of whom were women, burned their weapons on July 11, 2025, in a ceremony attended by many journalists and representatives of civil society organizations.

Following this ceremony, a 51-member commission chaired by TBMM Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, which included political parties with groups in the Parliament (except the İYİ Party), held its first meeting on August 5 regarding the solution process. The name of the commission was determined as the “National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission.”

On August 10, speaking to TV100, Bahçeli stated that the process would be completed by the end of the year and that the PKK’s burning of weapons carried a strong message, saying, “Weapons can be dug up again if buried; burning them means ‘we will never lay our hands on weapons again.’”

On August 19, a white Toros car was set on fire in front of the TBMM before the fourth meeting of the “National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission.”

On August 28, the DEM Party İmralı Delegation met with Öcalan. In the statement, it was stated that Öcalan said in the meeting, “Democratic society, peace, and integration are the three key concepts of this process, and a result can be reached on this basis,” and that he emphasized “the need for a new stage in which steps are taken urgently in all dimensions.”

On September 25, in its statement, the DEM Party said that the commission in the Parliament was about to complete the listening phase and stated, “With the opening of the Parliament, the first phase, which we can describe as the political and social phase, will give way to the second phase, which we describe as the legal phase.” The DEM Party announced that in the second phase of the process, the commission would focus on legislative work and that they had prepared proposals on issues such as the Transitional Period Law, Enforcement Law, changes in the TMK, TCK, and CMK, trustee regulations, democratization of local governments, combating discrimination, and education in the mother tongue.

On October 1, at the Opening Meeting of the 4th Legislative Year of the 28th Term of the TBMM, President Erdoğan thanked Devlet Bahçeli and the DEM Party for conducting the process.

At the MHP Parliamentary Group Meeting on October 7, Bahçeli suggested that a delegation of commission members meet face-to-face with Öcalan and asked Öcalan to make a call for the SDF to lay down arms.

On October 13, lawyers from the Asrın Law Office visited Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island. Öcalan said, “The principle of hope is a step that the state must take. It needs to remove this burden. This is an issue that affects thousands of people.”

On October 26, at a press conference organized in Kandil under the name of the Kurdistan Freedom Movement (KÖH) Administration because the PKK had dissolved itself, it was announced that all guerrilla forces posing a conflict risk within Turkey’s borders were being withdrawn to the “Media Defense Areas.” On November 17, it was announced that the armed forces had also withdrawn from the Zap area in northern Iraq. The KÖH Administration stated that it believed “this new step would serve peace and democratization in Turkey.”

On November 18, Bahçeli announced in his MHP group speech that if no one met with Öcalan, he would go to İmralı with three of his friends.

On November 21, the CHP announced that it was against the commission’s meeting with Öcalan. On the same day, the commission’s eighteenth meeting was held. In the closed session of the meeting, the proposal to meet with Öcalan was accepted with the “Yes” votes of the AK Party, MHP, DEM Party, TİP, and EMEP.

On November 24, a committee formed by the AK Party, MHP, and DEM Party from the “National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission” went to İmralı and met with Öcalan.

Meanwhile, from August 2025 onwards, many developments with a high probability of affecting the process in Turkey took place in Syria and Rojava. The first clashes between armed forces affiliated with the Syrian transitional government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), whose backbone is formed by Kurds, occurred on August 2, 2025, near Deyr Hafir and El-Kefse. The clashes intensified in September around Aleppo and its surroundings.

On December 26, clashes began between armed forces affiliated with the Syrian transitional government and Kurdish security forces in the Şêx Meqsûd and Eşrefiye neighborhoods. The parties had signed an agreement on April 1, 2025, foreseeing that only Kurdish security forces would remain in the Kurdish neighborhoods and that the SDF would withdraw from the areas it controlled in Aleppo. However, afterwards, the Damascus side accused the SDF of not complying with the agreement and deployed Syrian army tanks near the neighborhoods.

On December 27, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the Syrian government had closed the additional roads leading to Şêx Meqsûd and Eşrefiye and was preventing civilians from accessing these areas.

On January 4, 2026, a Kurdish delegation headed by SDF General Commander Mazlum Abdi met with officials of the temporary administration in Damascus. US-led international anti-ISIS coalition commander Kevin Lambert also attended the meeting. After the meeting, it was announced that the issue of SDF integration had been discussed and that meetings would continue until a conclusion was reached.

During the days when meetings with the SDF were held in Damascus, important meetings were also taking place in Paris. The meetings were represented by Syrian Foreign Minister Esad Şabani and Intelligence Chief Hussein Salameh for Syria, and by a delegation headed by Israel’s Washington Ambassador Yechiel Leiter for Israel. On behalf of the US, US Syria Special Envoy Tom Barrack and Trump’s advisors Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner attended the meetings. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s presence in Paris at the same time drew attention. After the meetings, it was announced that agreements had been reached between Israel and Syria on some issues.

A few days later, SDF General Command member Sipan Hemo announced that the January 4 Damascus meeting had been sabotaged. Hemo said: “It was a very positive meeting. Because both sides had accepted the articles. Even the international powers wanted this development to be announced to the public. While we were talking about these, a state official whose name I will not mention entered. Seeing that the meeting was going positively, he took the intelligence officer and the Defense Minister with him and left. When they returned, they said, ‘We will not make any statement at this stage. Let’s leave it to the 7th or 8th.’ It was clear that a game was developing. But whether it was Şêx Meqsûd or another place was not yet clear. There was a smell of a game.”

According to Reuters, a series of high-level closed-door meetings were held in Damascus, Paris, and Iraq at the beginning of January. In the Paris meeting, Syrian officials asked the Israeli side to cut its support for the SDF. It was stated that the Syrian government also brought up the idea of a limited operation in some areas controlled by the SDF and that it did not encounter any reservations. In return, it was claimed that Israel had made the Damascus administration accept a series of demands, especially the demilitarization of southern Syria. Neither Syria nor the US confirmed or denied Reuters’ report.

On January 7, 2026, the Syrian transitional government declared all Kurdish security points in the Şêx Meqsûd and Eşrefiye neighborhoods as “military targets,” and attacks on the neighborhoods increased. A major humanitarian crisis was experienced due to war crimes committed by armed persons affiliated with the Syrian Arab Army. The images of the lifeless body of Kurdish women’s security officer Deniz Çiya being thrown from a building with “Allahu Akbar” slogans created outrage among Kurds and drew strong reactions from human rights organizations.

Following the intense clashes, the Syrian Army entered the Eşrefiye Neighborhood on January 8, 2026, and the Şêx Meqsûd Neighborhood on January 11, 2026, declaring that control in Aleppo province was in the hands of the Syrian army.

On January 9, 2026, EU Council President António Costa and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen went to Damascus and met with Ahmed Şara. Von der Leyen announced a 620 million euro support package for Syria. While attacks on Kurdish neighborhoods continued, the EU’s visit to Damascus drew criticism in public opinion.

On January 17, 2026, the DEM Party delegation met with Öcalan in İmralı. Öcalan, stating that he was extremely concerned due to the clashes, evaluated this situation as an attempt to undermine the Peace and Democratic Society Process.

On the same day, the Syrian government declared the area west of the Euphrates, including Raqqa under SDF control, a “closed military zone” and launched an attack on some areas of Tabqa. With the SDF’s announcement that it would withdraw to the east of the Euphrates, the Damascus administration announced that its forces had begun entering the city.

On January 17, Mazlum Abdi, Autonomous Administration Foreign Relations Co-Chair İlham Ahmed, Tom Barrack, and KDP Chairman Mesud Barzani met in Erbil. In the statement made by the Kurdistan Regional Government Presidency after the meeting, it was stated that “Both sides agreed that the only way to solve the problems peacefully and to ensure peaceful coexistence among the components of the new Syria is dialogue.”

On January 18, the Syrian army took Tabqa, the Tabqa Dam, and the Tabqa Air Base. It also seized the entire eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor with all its towns and villages, as well as the oil and natural gas fields in the region. On the same day at noon, Arab tribal forces took control of Raqqa, and the Syrian army entered the city a few hours later.

On January 18, the SDF and the Syrian transitional government agreed on a ceasefire. According to the ceasefire agreement, the Syrian transitional government would take over the military and administrative control of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces. In addition, the SDF would hand over control of all oil and natural gas fields in northeastern Syria and international border crossings to the Syrian transitional government, and civilian institutions in Hasakah province would be integrated into the Syrian state.

On January 19, the Rojava Delegation headed by Mazlum Abdi met in Damascus with the Damascus Administration headed by Ahmed Şara and the US Syria Special Envoy Tom Barrack. The Rojava Delegation stated that they did not accept the new articles attempted to be added to the ceasefire agreement announced the previous day and the style attempted to be imposed as a fait accompli, and left the meeting.

In his statement after the inconclusive meeting, Mazlum Abdi emphasized that protecting Kurdish regions against attacks by Damascus forces was a “red line.” With the Rojava administration’s decision to resist, Kurds took to the streets on January 20 in cities across the four parts of Kurdistan and Europe, and around the world. Solidarity actions with Rojava continued uninterrupted until February, with demands for Kurdish unity marking the actions.

Meanwhile, on January 22, a highly controversial video circulated on social media. In the video, Ramî El Deheş, who was in HTS, ISIS, and Turkey-backed paramilitary structures, said he had cut the braid of a deceased YPJ female fighter in Raqqa and “gifted it.” The video was met with anger and reaction in many parts of the world. Women launched a braid protest worldwide. Some women participating in the protest in Turkey were detained and arrested.

On January 30, a statement was published regarding the meeting that Mazlum Abdi and İlham Ahmed held with transitional government officials in Damascus. The statement announced that a comprehensive agreement had been reached including gradual military and administrative integration between the Syrian transitional government and the SDF, the establishment of a military division consisting of three brigades affiliated with the SDF, the formation of a separate brigade within a division affiliated with Aleppo province for Kobani forces, the deployment of Interior Ministry forces in Hasakah and Qamishli, the integration of local institutions into the state, guarantees of civil and educational rights for Kurdish society, and the return of displaced persons.

On February 16, the DEM Party İmralı Delegation met with Öcalan. In the statement made by Öcalan through the delegation, he said: “The process we have left behind has proven our ability and power of negotiation to ensure the transition from a politics of violence and separation to democratic politics and integration in essence. The TBMM Commission report must be compatible with the basic social realities. In the future progress of the process, this quality of the commission report will be extremely important. A politics that approaches with the logic of ‘eliminating terrorism’ does not express a solution, but a lack of solution.”

On February 17, in the 60-page report prepared by the “National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission,” topics such as the dissolution of the PKK and the process of laying down arms, and social integration were included. It was stated that legal regulations were tied to the condition of “the actual finalization of the PKK’s laying down of arms and its detection by the executive organ.”

On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched large-scale air strikes on Iran. In the strikes, many high-level Iranian officials, including Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were killed. In response, Iran’s missile attacks on US bases in the region and Israeli territory turned the war into a regional and multidimensional crisis.

On February 22, Kurdish parties in Iran united under the name “Rojhilat Political Forces Alliance” (Iranian Kurdistan Political Forces Alliance) and formed a common front against the Iranian regime. The coalition, which included structures such as PJAK, KDP-İ, PAK, Komala, and Xebat, increased the number of parties to 6 with the participation of the Iranian Kurdistan Revolutionary Workers’ Community on March 4. Meanwhile, while claims that the US and Israel were seeking a possible alliance with the Kurds were confirmed by US sources, the Kurdish political movement’s distant and cautious statements so far drew attention.

On March 4, the DEM Party delegation held a meeting in Ankara with Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi and Justice Minister Akın Gürlek on legal regulations.

On March 11, PYD Co-Presidency Council member Salih Müslim passed away in a hospital in Hewler where he had been receiving treatment for some time due to kidney failure. A funeral ceremony with the participation of thousands of people was held for Müslim in Qamishli.

On March 21, Kurds celebrated Newroz with the participation of millions in many cities around the world. Öcalan’s message was read at the celebrations. In his message, Öcalan emphasized that religious, sectarian, and cultural wars had continued in the Middle East for a thousand years, and stated that “the divisions created by policies of suppression, denial, and enmity in the region today provide an excuse for imperialist interventions.” Öcalan said, “On the occasion of Newroz, it is in our hands to turn this year into a real year of freedom for all the peoples of the Middle East and to make the tradition of friendship and solidarity among peoples dominant.”

On the other hand, before and after the Newroz celebrations, a total of 170 people were detained in 15 cities on charges of “making propaganda for an organization” and “violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations,” and 12 of those detained in Istanbul were arrested. President Erdoğan defended the detentions and arrests by calling them “provocations trying to undermine the process.” Erdoğan described the opening of posters of Abdullah Öcalan at the celebrations and the carrying of yellow, red, and green colors in the areas as “playing with the sensitive nerves of the nation.”

On March 27, the DEM Party İmralı Delegation met with Öcalan. Öcalan said: “This great problem we are trying to solve should not be approached narrowly. Because there are deep hegemonic plans over the Middle East. While positive developments have been experienced to some extent along with the painful situation in Syria, now the Iran war is on the agenda. Three lines have emerged in the Iran war: The first is the US-Israel line. The second is the line aimed at protecting the status quo led by Britain and some international and regional powers. The third is the line of democracy and common life that we have developed with the Peace and Democratic Society Process we defend. The developments in Iran have once again revealed the justification and importance of the process being carried out in Turkey.”

On March 28, it was announced that a commission consisting of lawyers would be established under the chairmanship of AKP Group Deputy Chairman Abdulhamit Gül. AKP officials stated: “A temporary code law is targeted to be brought to the Parliament’s agenda in June or July; it will not be a general amnesty or omnibus law.”