Öcalan writing historic letter for Nevruz, Önder says

DİYARBAKIR - Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

A much-anticipated letter from jailed outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan that will be read out during Nevruz celebrations in Diyarbakır will be “historic,” according to Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder.

 “I asked [Öcalan] the difference between this letter and the previous ones. He said: ‘The previous two messages were peace calls. This letter will give a global perspective, which is vital for all of us, in order to build a democratic republic,’” Önder told Med Nûçe Television on March 15, a day after he met with Öcalan on İmralı Island as part of a five-member delegation.

Önder declined to comment on the letter’s content, but added: “The letter includes a substantial roadmap and a whole new perspective both for the nation and the region, with all theoretical, practical and quality details on the road to peace.”

A five-member delegation, including HDP deputy parliamentary group chair Pervin Buldan and the co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), Hatip Dicle, met Öcalan on March 14 to convey messages received from the Kandil Mountains, where the PKK’s military headquarters are located.

Öcalan said during their meeting on March 14 that a joint, March 5 declaration from the HDP and the government over the peace process possessed a “historic meaning,” Önder said, adding that the PKK leader also said the joint declaration had opened the door for a genuine negotiation process, while calling on everyone to exert efforts on the issue.

The PKK leader also told the delegation that the 10-article text written by him and announced during the March 5 meeting included a historic opportunity for the democratization of Turkey.

Meanwhile, Önder also commented on Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan’s recent remarks on the foundation of a monitoring body, in which the government official said suggestions about the foundation of the body were a “complete lie.”

“It is a problematic statement for us and the process. Perhaps, the only acceptable part of [Akdoğan’s] statement was that the 16 members [of the monitoring body] had not been clarified yet,” said Önder, adding that a monitoring body would be formed and that the public would be informed immediately.

Öcalan’s letter will be written as with previous messages, despite the HDP’s efforts to obtain permission for a video message in which Öcalan would speak himself.