By Bosphorus News Türkiye Desk
A senior Turkish presidential adviser said on Sept. 17 that Abdullah Öcalan, jailed founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), would be given a role in the process overseeing the group's disarmament. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union. The same day, Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council Co-Chair Cemil Bayık said the group would not lay down its arms unless Öcalan was freed.
Mehmet Uçum, chief adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and deputy chair of the Presidential Legal Policies Council, told journalists at the Turkish Press Federation that Öcalan would take part in the Disarmament and Strategic Coordination Subcommittee, one of four subcommittees under the Monitoring and Evaluation Board.
Uçum also addressed a new building on İmralı island, where Öcalan is serving a life sentence. He described it as an annex to the prison, said it did not amount to release or special treatment, and linked the additional space to Öcalan's expected role in the process. The board chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has not announced a formal decision assigning him that role.
Bayık's condition
"If Apo is not free, we will not lay down our arms and we will not go to Türkiye," Bayık told Kurdish-language Nûçe TV in an interview broadcast on Sept. 17. Apo is a name used for Öcalan within the movement.
Bayık said the law passed by parliament fell short of the group's demands and was written mainly around Ankara's objective of disarming and dispersing its fighters. He called for legal changes that would allow members to enter democratic politics.
He also called for KCK representatives, journalists, academics and politicians to be allowed to visit Öcalan on İmralı. Bayık said the movement did not trust the Turkish state, citing the continued appointment of trustees in place of elected mayors, the detention of political prisoners and the lack of changes to terrorism designation lists.
On Sept. 6, Bosphorus News reported that Bayık had treated the law as a starting point and said Öcalan's status and freedom would have to be addressed as the process advanced. He did not then make Öcalan's release a condition for disarmament and returns.
The implementation structure described at the time gave Öcalan no formal role. Uçum's Sept. 17 remarks are the first public indication from the government that Öcalan is expected to take part directly in the disarmament structure.
What the law requires
Law No. 7595 was adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on Aug. 10 and published in the Official Gazette on Aug. 18. Measures affecting investigations, prosecutions and sentences depend on security institutions determining that the PKK, the KCK and related formations have ended their de facto existence and surrendered all weapons. That finding must then be confirmed by a National Security Council decision published in the Official Gazette.
The law does not make Öcalan's release a condition. Its provisions on sentence reductions exclude intentional killing convictions and life or aggravated life sentences for offenses committed before June 1, 2005, leaving Öcalan outside that mechanism.
The implementation board set up four subcommittees on Aug. 24, covering judicial affairs, monitoring and determination, social cohesion, and disarmament and strategic coordination.
The process is officially called "Terror-Free Türkiye" by the government and "Peace and Democratic Society Process" by the Kurdish movement.
Sources: Turkish Grand National Assembly, Official Gazette, NTV, Nûçe TV, Firat News Agency, Mezopotamya Agency, Bosphorus News review and reporting.