Kurdistan/Turkey: A Newroz of hope against a backdrop of coup d’état
Thursday 17 April 2025, by Mireille Court
This year’s Newroz festival in Diyarbakir drew huge crowds with one hope: to finally find a political solution to the decades-long conflict in the Kurdish region. A Newroz message from the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, was broadcast over the loudspeakers, something that had not happened for several years, as Öcalan has been in total isolation. The portrait of the charismatic PKK president was everywhere, which was not previously allowed. So was the portrait of Selahettin Demirtas, former chair of the HDP party (now DEM). Negotiating a ceasefire is no simple matter.
Turkish 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
Attached documentskurdistan-turkey-a-newroz-of-hope-against-a-backdrop-of_a8935.pdf (PDF - 900.2 KiB)
Extraction PDF [->article8935]
Turkey
Türkiye: Political Crisis and Democratic Movement
Turkey and the Neofascist Contagion
Turkey: a mass movement builds against Erdogan’s power grab
Turkish people will not accept the death sentence for their democracy
Kurdistan: ‘Turkey must choose between the status quo, endless war and peace with the Kurds’.
Kurdistan
The Turkish State and the Kurdish Question: Contradictions and fragilities of a new hope
Syria: "The West is sacrificing dozens of peoples and faiths"
Kurds under attack on all fronts
“This revolution we are leading is a women’s revolution”
Kurdish spring defies Erdogan
Mireille Court is a member of the NPA in France.
International Viewpoint is published under the responsibility of the Bureau of the Fourth International. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect editorial policy. Articles can be reprinted with acknowledgement, and a live link if possible.
Thursday 17 April 2025, by Mireille Court
This year’s Newroz festival in Diyarbakir drew huge crowds with one hope: to finally find a political solution to the decades-long conflict in the Kurdish region. A Newroz message from the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, was broadcast over the loudspeakers, something that had not happened for several years, as Öcalan has been in total isolation. The portrait of the charismatic PKK president was everywhere, which was not previously allowed. So was the portrait of Selahettin Demirtas, former chair of the HDP party (now DEM). Negotiating a ceasefire is no simple matter.
Turkish 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
Attached documentskurdistan-turkey-a-newroz-of-hope-against-a-backdrop-of_a8935.pdf (PDF - 900.2 KiB)
Extraction PDF [->article8935]
Turkey
Türkiye: Political Crisis and Democratic Movement
Turkey and the Neofascist Contagion
Turkey: a mass movement builds against Erdogan’s power grab
Turkish people will not accept the death sentence for their democracy
Kurdistan: ‘Turkey must choose between the status quo, endless war and peace with the Kurds’.
Kurdistan
The Turkish State and the Kurdish Question: Contradictions and fragilities of a new hope
Syria: "The West is sacrificing dozens of peoples and faiths"
Kurds under attack on all fronts
“This revolution we are leading is a women’s revolution”
Kurdish spring defies Erdogan
Mireille Court is a member of the NPA in France.
International Viewpoint is published under the responsibility of the Bureau of the Fourth International. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect editorial policy. Articles can be reprinted with acknowledgement, and a live link if possible.
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