Ocalan and the Acceleration of his Party’s Disarmament
(Translated)

Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 557 - 23/07/2025 CE

By: Asaad Mansour

The leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, pledged to accelerate his party's disarmament process, saying, "In order to fulfill the promises we have committed to, a mechanism for laying down arms should be established, one that contributes to progress in the process, brings an end to the armed struggle voluntarily, and enables a transition to the legal phase and democratic politics."

It appears that his party, which responded to his call on 12/5/2025 by dissolving itself, and laying down arms, delayed the disarmament process, which postponed his release from prison. It seems there are opposing forces within the party stalling the matter to keep it unresolved. Secret negotiations between both sides had begun back in 2009, but were later suspended, which made him fear another delay that could keep him imprisoned, since his goal is driven by personal interests. He has announced his abandonment of the goal for which he launched his armed rebellion in 1984, saying, “The party has abandoned the objective of establishing a nation-state and thus has given up the strategy of war. In the current historical phase, there is hope for achieving further progress.”

That is why Ocalan wants to accelerate the disarmament process, saying, “Regarding disarmament, appropriate methods will be determined and swift practical steps will be taken.” To achieve this, he stated, “A committee is currently being formed within the Turkish parliament to ensure voluntary and legal disarmament, and this is of great importance... It is necessary that the steps taken be sensitive and not based on narrow-minded logic.” It appears he is criticizing those who are stalling or obstructing the process, viewing their logic as narrow. He said, “I see this step as a gesture of goodwill, and I believe in it. My belief lies in politics and societal peace, not in weapons. I call on you to implement this principle.”

Here, he is stressing that they must expedite the implementation of what they agreed upon, so that time does not pass him by, and he loses his opportunity both as a leader capable of imposing his will on his followers, and as a prisoner hoping for release after being incarcerated since 1999.

What confirms this is that his statement was recorded by the Firat agency, which is close to his party, on 19/6/2025, but it was not published until 9/7/2025. This indicates that its release was delayed in order to secure an actual response from party members and leadership, as signs of stalling and slow implementation had appeared. This renders Ocalan’s announcement, as well as that of his party practically meaningless, with the matter remaining stagnant, like promises without execution.

For this reason, the same agency reported that, in a symbolic move, a group of 30 members of the party including 4 leaders destroyed a number of weapons on 11/7/2025 in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq, in the presence of representatives from Turkish intelligence, the Kurdistan Regional Government of northern Iraq, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and the Equality and Peoples’ Democracy Party, which acts as an intermediary between the Turkish government and Ocalan.

Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkish intelligence, visited Baghdad on 8/7/2025 and met with senior Iraqi officials to discuss the logistical aspects of the disarmament process, according to an Iraqi official who spoke to Agence France-Presse.

Turkey accused the party of stalling and called for the disarmament process to be accelerated. Turkish President Erdogan said on 6/7/2025, “Peace efforts will move a little faster once the terrorist organization begins implementing its decision to lay down arms.” A delegation from the Equality and Peoples’ Democracy Party met with Ocalan on 7/7/2025, and the following day met with Erdogan in the presence of İbrahim Kalin.

Following Ocalan’s announcement of his pledge to accelerate his party’s disarmament process, Erdogan commented, “We are entering a new phase in which we will receive positive news in the coming days. We hope this process will conclude successfully as soon as possible, without any incidents or sabotage attempts.”

The United States, which currently holds influence in the region, has no project for establishing a Kurdish state. It rejected the idea of creating one in northern Iraq, and settled instead for granting it autonomy. For this reason, it is now working to dismantle the SDF organization, led by Kurdish nationalists, and integrate it into the Syrian regime, headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa.  Ocalan has realized this, he who once worked on behalf of the US, which used him against Turkey during the period when pro-British agents held power. However, the US is now committed to the unity of Turkey, which is aligned with it under the leadership of Erdogan, who describes himself as a friend and ally of America.

Turkey is pushing to close this matter, so that Erdogan can achieve a historic milestone in the country’s history, claiming that he succeeded in ending the armed Kurdish nationalist rebellion, and integrating Kurdish nationalists into political life in Turkey. This would earn him points to rally support for his bid to run for the presidency again, by amending the constitution, which currently bars him from seeking a third term, or by calling early elections. He is intent on ending his life and final days in defiance of Allah (swt), enforcing the secular democratic system of disbelief. He has deceived the simple and naïve into thinking he would gradually implement Islam, just as he deceived them on the issue of supporting the people of Palestine. And now, Gaza has been slaughtered and annihilated for 21 months, yet he has not provided a single bullet, a morsel of food, or a sip of water. Instead, he has continued to normalize relations with the Jewish entity. What truly matters to him are Turkey’s narrow nationalist interests and his own personal ambition to remain in power, with the backing of the United States, which forbids any harm to the Jewish entity, its forward military base in the region.

It appears that Ocalan, who adopted secularism and socialism as the ideological foundation for his party, is eager to be released from prison, and enter the political process, or at least act as a guide for his followers within it, to satisfy his personal desire for leadership and dominance. Indeed, figures like him, who pursue nationalist and patriotic goals, often see their revolutions end with the reward of a political post, just as happened with the leaders of nationalist revolts stirred up by colonialist powers to destroy the Uthmani Khilafah (Ottoman Caliphate). The result was its fragmentation into mini-states, ruled by their agents, advocates of nationalism and patriotism, and by those who followed in their footsteps.

A profound and enlightened passage appears in the book 'The Party Structuring' (At-Takatul Al-Hizbi) by Hizb ut Tahrir, offering a precise description of the intellectual influenced by foreign ideas such as secularism, democracy, and socialism.

“Accordingly, it prevailed that when he spoke of revival, the cultured individual did not know what revives the Ummah, but for imitation of the foreigner. Thus, the sensations (aHaasis) did not motivate the cultured individual for the sake of the ideology, but motivated him for the sake of the homeland and the people, which is the wrong motivation. Consequently, he would neither undertake a correct revolution for the sake of his country nor would he fully sacrifice for the sake of the people.This is because neither would he feel the circumstances that surrounded him with intellectual feeling (shu’oor fikri), nor would he sense the needs of the people with intellectual sensation (iHsaas fikri). If we assumed that he did revolt and call for revival, it would either be a revolution borne of a shock amongst shocks, alongside his own interests, or a revolution in imitation of the revolutions of other peoples.” END QUOTE.

The revival of the Ummah can only be achieved through the Islamic ideology (mabda’) and the establishment of a state that implements it and carries its message to liberate all people from false ideas, misguided ideologies, and divisive nationalist and patriotic loyalties.