PKK leader reiterates Kurdish confederation as 'stateless solution'

ISTANBUL

The imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan. Hürriyet photo

The imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, has reiterated his thesis on the creation of a "Kurdish Democratic Confederation" comprising the Kurds of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey in a message to the Kandil mountains in northern Iraq, where the main PKK base is located.
 
Öcalan's “stateless” suggestion, which he describes as a higher degree of democratic autonomy, does not aim to modify Turkey's borders as drawn by the Turkish national oath, according to Doğan news agency.

The letter was received last week by a three-member delegation from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) during a visit to Öcalan on Imralı island, where he is serving a lifetime sentence. BDP co-chair Selahttin Demirtaş and Istanbul deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder are currently in Arbil, awaiting the militants’ reply.
 
The jailed PKK leader has said his suggestion might turn into a system like the European Union or Middle East Democratic Confederalism in further steps.
 
According to Öcalan's suggestion, local administrations will be founded and they will be interrelated in terms of politics, economy and culture.
 
Turkey's Kurds will play the key role in this Kurdish confederalism project.
 
Öcalan has also expressed his red lines in his letter as follows: Sexism, nationalism, religious fundamentalism and pure positivism.
 
Underlining the brotherhood of Islam in his Nevruz letter and the value of cultural Islam, Öcalan also expressed his opposition to political Islam and religious approaches.
 

BDP deputies have completed four visits to the imprisoned leader of the PKK and delivered letters by Öcalan to the outlawed group members in Europe and Iraq.

 
The “İmralı process” or “peace process” refers to the recently launched talks between officials and Öcalan, aimed at convincing PKK militants to lay down their arms and withdraw from Turkish soil.
 
In his message read at the Nevruz celebrations of March 21, Öcalan called on PKK militants to leave Turkish soil and prepare for a new era to continue the struggle without arms.