DEM Party sees 'new page' in peace bid after PKK pullout

ANKARA

The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has welcomed PKK’s announcement that it is withdrawing all armed forces from Türkiye to northern Iraq, calling it a key step in the nation’s ongoing peace initiative.

"Now is the time to write our own story without waiting for a solution elsewhere. It is time to transition to the second, much more critical and vital phase: Achieving social peace through legal and political steps,” DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan said on Oct. 27 during a press briefing in Ankara.

PKK formally renounced armed struggle against Türkiye in May. In its Oct. 26 statement, the terror group said the withdrawal of its forces to northern Iraq marks the next phase in the peace process.

Türkiye initiated indirect talks with PKK late last year, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan praising the July destruction of weapons as a milestone.

"A new page has been opened with the completion of the withdrawal," Bakırhan said. “The process must develop with laws, rights and freedoms. The language of politics and democracy must be strengthened… Parliament must facilitate and develop this process. Legal arrangements must be made for the transition period."