Abdullah Ocalan’s statement came ahead of Friday’s ceremony in northern Iraq for a first tranche of PKK militants to lay down weapons two months after the group said it was ending a decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish state.
The conflict, which began in 1984, has claimed more than 40,000 lives and long strained Turkey’s relations with its Kurdish minority and regional neighbours.
“The details of disarmament will be determined and implemented swiftly.. Establishing a disarmament mechanism will advance the process,” Ocalan said in a video message.
Most of the PKK’s fighters have spent the past decade in the mountains of northern Iraq.
“This represents a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law,” added the 76-year-old, who made a historic call for the PKK to disarm in February and seek democratic ways to fight for the rights of Turkey’s Kurdish minority.
“I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons. And I urge you to put this principle into practice.”
Ocalan, who has been serving life on Imrali prison island near Istanbul since 1999, stated the creation of a parliamentary oversight commission to manage the peace process would be “crucial”.
“The overall process of voluntary disarmament and the comprehensive commission envisioned to be established.. by the Turkish Grand National Assembly (parliament) are crucial. Care and sensitivity are essential,” he contineud.
The former militant said he had written a new “democratic society” manifesto for the shift from armed struggle to democratic politics.
“Achieving the goal of peace and a democratic Society, with everyone doing their part, is possible through a positive integrationist perspective.”
“The PKK has abandoned its nation-state goal, and by abandoning this fundamental goal, it has also abandoned its fundamental war strategy,” he added.
The pro-Kurdish DEM party, the third force in Turkey’s parliament which has played a key role in facilitating contact between Ocalan and the Turkish government, has submitted a proposal to set up a parliamentary commission, telling AFP it would likely be set up by mid-July.
When a delegation of DEM lawmakers visited Ocalan on Imrali island on Sunday, he told them the commission would “play a major role” in successfully directing the process.
A day later, the DEM lawmakers held an hour-long meeting in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his spy chief Ibrahim Kalin to discuss the next steps.
Kalin then went to Baghdad on Tuesday for high-level talks on the logistics of the disarmament process, a senior Iraqi security official told AFP.
On returning from a summit in Azerbaijan, Erdogan said peace efforts would gain momentum with the start of the disarmament process.
“The process will gain a little more speed when the terrorist organisation starts to implement its decision to lay down arms,” he added.
Observers expect that as the disarmament process unfolds, Ankara will show a new openness to the Kurds, an ethnic minority with a distinct culture and language who make up about 20 percent of Turkey’s population of 85 million.
