IMRALI, Turkey, — Over the course of the weekly visit of his lawyers, the Kurdish national leader Abdullah Ocalan said that Turkey’s ruling AKP is the greatest obstacle to peace in the country.
From his solitary confinement in Imrali Prison, Ocalan said Turkish army and the state actors are eager to start a process that will end 30 year old conflict but AKP government does not want peace for its political interests.
Ocalan noted AKP’s intentions are still not clear and the only thing that they are interested is strengthening their governance in Turkey. “It’s clear that they are not ready for peace” he said.
He said that foreign forces are using and directing AKP’s politics and harshly criticized the Turkish government to use the Islam religion for political power.
Ocalan said there are no meetings between him and state officials for the last 30 days. He called the meetings “a platform for dialogue” rather than negotiations and defined his role as peacemaker between Turkish state and the PKK.
He called Turkish government to take positive steps on Kurdish question until 1 March and added that he might give up his role as peacemaker after that.
Ocalan said laying down arms will be on the agenda only at the last stage of peace negotiations and rejected any calls that demands PKK’s definitive disarmament as the first step.
Ocalan added that the Turkish Parliament should issue a declaration which will show its intentions to solve the Kurdish question by peaceful means.
Ocalan called all political parties and NGO’s to show more effort for peace until 1 March. He set 1 March as “the decisive day for the future of the peace process”.
Kurdish leader warned that an extensive war can break out in the region if Turkish government fail to respond peace calls from the PKK.