The Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) made the following statement regarding the “Call for Peace and Democratic Society” announced by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan through the DEM Party İmralı Delegation in Istanbul on 27 February:

“Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] made a historic call on 27 February. In his call, Leader Apo specifically points to a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, the establishment of a democratic society and fundamental changes in the Kurdish people's freedom movement.

The Middle East is undergoing a vast and rapid change. The region can no longer cope with the problems and crises caused by the authoritarian policies of nation-states. Nationalism is both the source of these challenging and complex issues and the biggest obstacle to a solution.

In this context, the Kurdish issue, which is considered a security problem and tried to be resolved through repression and military force as a result of the nation-state mentality, has become a deep wound and an unresolvable knot. This situation also reflects the approach of the ruling regimes in the Middle East to solving problems. Leader Apo's call is an attempt to overcome this crisis and a historic opportunity for the Turkish state and other regional states to take steps towards a democratic solution.

Undoubtedly, the success of Leader Apo's step for peace depends on the physical liberation of himself and all other political prisoners, the ending of the war by the Turkish state and the establishment of a political, legal and democratic foundation.

In his historic call, Leader Apo points out that the Kurdistan Freedom Movement, despite great sacrifices, has not been able to fully respond to this issue due to the bipolar world mentality.

For half a century, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, through a relentless struggle, has protected the Kurdish nation from the threat of ethnic extinction and exposed the policy based on the denial of the Kurdish people. The Kurdish nation has now successfully passed the stage of 'resurrection' and the matter of existence as a nation, and has reached the stage of self-determination, self-government and leadership in democracy. Of course, the success of this process requires new approaches and measures to continue the struggle.

During the 1990s and the 26 years he spent in Imrali Prison, Leader Apo waged an extensive struggle to change the understanding and paradigm of the struggle of the Kurdistan Freedom Movement.

He put forward a new paradigm of struggle on the basis of a democratic, ecological society and women's liberation, which is the road map of our struggle. Leader Apo's latest call covers very important, remarkable and vital issues. As a party that carries out its struggle on the basis of Leader Apo's philosophy and paradigm of democratic society, we support Leader Apo's call for peace in Turkey and the peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question as a whole.”