Kurdish PKK militants want to return to Turkey and enter democratic politics, one of the group's joint leaders told AFP on Friday after the fighters began destroying their arms at a ceremony in Iraq.
In an interview with AFP, Bese Hozat, one of the Kurdish militant group's two top leaders, also warned the fragile peace process risked being derailed if Ankara failed to free its jailed founder, Abdullah Ocalan.
And she said Turkey needed to enact urgent legal reforms to allow PKK fighters to return home without fear of prosecution or death after ending their decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.
"The Turkish state needs to grant us the right to enter democratic politics. We are ready and willing to go to Turkey to engage in democratic politics," she said.
"A comprehensive decision has been made to abandon the armed struggle and to continue the struggle for democracy through lawful political means and legal grounds," she said.
But for the PKK's metamorphosis from armed struggle to democratic politics to be a success, she continued, it was essential for Turkey to release Ocalan – known to his followers as "Apo" (uncle).
He has been serving a life sentence in solitary confinement on the prison island of Imrali near Istanbul since 1999.
"Ensuring leader Apo's physical freedom legally, via legal guarantees, is essential... he should be able to freely lead and manage this process. This is our primary condition and demand," she said.
"Without this development, it is highly unlikely that the process will continue successfully."
The PKK has repeatedly demanded Ocalan be released to lead the process, although the 76-year-old had earlier this week insisted his own freedom was not important.
And she said it was essential for Turkey to push through "comprehensive and serious legal reforms" to allow PKK militants to return home without fear of prosecution or reprisals.
"If Turkey takes concrete steps, enacts laws, and implements radical legal reforms, we will go to Turkey and engage in politics," she said.
"If there are no legal constitutional arrangements, we will either end up in prison or being killed."
The move to disband and decommission the PKK's weapons was part of a broader five-stage process towards sustainable peace, a senior Turkish official said, speaking anonymously.
The following steps would involve the legal reintegration of former fighters into society, the establishment of mechanisms for their lawful return and for justice, and ensuring accountability and stability.
AFP
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