Between “The Call for Peace and a Democratic Society” and the Turanist mentality, where is Turkey heading?

Since the establishment of the Turkish state in 1923, the Kurdish issue has been the biggest concern for the founders of the republic. On the basis of religious distinction, Turkey was able to eliminate the Greeks, Armenians, and Syriacs. However, with regard to eliminating the Kurds, the religious approach was neither possible nor useful; the majority of Kurds – like the Turkish people – adhere to the Islamic religion and the Sunni sect. Therefore, the Turkish state resorted to following a secular approach, claiming that the Kurds seek to return the republic to the backward era of the Ottoman Empire, which followed the Islamic approach, and that the Kurds constitute an obstacle to the development of the state in line with the development in Europe. Despite Sheikh Said’s religious beliefs, as he belonged to the Naqshbandi order (one of the Sufi orders), Kemal Ataturk described Sheikh Said Piran’s 1925 revolution as a backward conspiracy, treason, and sabotage, and Ataturk did not clarify the main reasons for the revolution as being due to the Kurds being deprived of their rights within the republic. Ataturk assessed the revolution against the modern state as being directed against his authority and against the nationalism of the new Turkish state. The Kemalists pointed out that the reasons for the collapse of the Ottoman Sultanate after the First World War were due to the multiplicity and difference of nationalities, religions, and sects. Therefore, they found that establishing a state based on one nationality, one language, one flag, and one state is a historical necessity. In order to build a state of Turkish nationality, they did not recognize the Kurds, but called them “Turks of the Mountains” and practiced all policies of assimilation, displacement, extermination, and Turkification against them. Consequently, the Kurdish people found that there was no alternative to resistance, which can be said to be a resistance of existence or non-existence. With the suppression of Kurdish revolutions – especially after the Dersim revolution in 1937 – the Turkish state believed that the Kurdish issue had ended and that there remained within the borders of the Turkish state only those whom Turkey calls “good Kurds,” meaning the dead Kurds who eat, drink, and dress, the Kurds who have lost hope, the defeated Kurds whose only hope is to become Turks, but rather to become more Turkish than the Turks themselves.

The emergence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the era of resurgence

The emergence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Northern Kurdistan in 1978 caused an earthquake in the dreams and consciousness of Turkey and the Kurds. The Kurdish issue, which was thought to have ended, was revived, and the people who had lost hope had a great dream and regained their self-confidence. Mr. Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, led the Kurdistan liberation revolution under the slogan “Kurdistan is a colony.” Turkey described its war against the revolution as a war of survival or demise. As a result, 3,000-5,000 villages in Kurdistan were emptied and burned during the years 1985-1988, and the war entered a brutal phase that exceeded all standards. The toll of that war reached 35-40 thousand from the fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Turkish soldiers, and civilians from the Kurdish people. Undoubtedly, the majority of the victims were from the people, and thousands of Kurdish intellectuals, thinkers, and politicians were killed and arrested by the Turkish intelligence service (MIT). In 1993, the then Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Ozal asked Mr. Ocalan to declare a ceasefire in order to resolve the Kurdish issue peacefully; however, this was not successful, and Turgut Ozal died in mysterious circumstances, which opened the door to a fierce and limitless war. In 1998, during an international conspiracy, Mr. Ocalan was handed over to the Turkish state.

It is worth mentioning that Mr. Ocalan has declared a unilateral ceasefire more than eight times, even without the Turkish state offering any positive responses, but rather continuing its war. The handover of Mr. Ocalan to the Turkish state opened the door to the outbreak of internal war, the commission of massacres, and the occurrence of great destruction in Kurdistan and Turkey. In the face of these fears, Mr. Ocalan announced a call for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue.

Unilateral Ceasefire for Peace

The Turkish state has been unable to eliminate the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK); therefore, it has resorted to a policy of pitting Kurds against Kurds. In 1992, through an agreement with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Turkey began a major military confrontation with the PKK. As a result, after a 45-day war, a truce was reached. On March 17, 1993, at the request of the then Turkish Prime Minister, and with the mediation of Mr. Jalal Talabani, Mr. Ocalan announced a unilateral ceasefire, in order to resolve the Kurdish issue by peaceful means, as explained by Turgut Ozal. In 1995, after three months of military confrontations with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which was a reaction to the Dublin conspiracy against the PKK, Mr. Ocalan once again announced a unilateral ceasefire. At the same time, that ceasefire was also considered a declaration of a ceasefire with Turkey.

In September 1998, based on the appointment of Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan to resolve the Kurdish issue peacefully once again, Mr. Ocalan announced another unilateral ceasefire. After Mr. Ocalan was handed over to the Turkish state through an international conspiracy on February 15, 1999, and in order to achieve peace and as a genuine desire in this regard, the PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire on September 1, 1999, and made a decision to withdraw guerrilla forces outside the Turkish borders. On November 22, 2022, the PKK announced the Democratic Peace Project with Turkey; however, Turkey interpreted that announcement as a sign of weakness for the PKK.

In 2006, the PKK once again presented Turkey with a roadmap for peace; that roadmap consisted of ten items (ending the war, recognizing the identity of the Kurdish people, making political and democratic changes, establishing local administrations, freedom to establish associations and parties, releasing political prisoners, cultural rights and the Kurdish language, returning displaced persons, peace goals and follow-up, considering Mr. Ocalan as an official representative).

On March 29, 2009, the PKK once again announced a unilateral ceasefire.

On April 13, 2009, the PKK announced another ceasefire.

The ceasefire continued again from 2013 to 2015, and there were negotiations and discussions between Mr. Ocalan and Turkey, and there was understanding and agreement. War and confrontations between the two sides continued from 2015 to 2024.

With the developments of the October 7 war between Hamas and Israel, and with Israel breaking its silence and revealing its insistence on building a new Middle East, Turkey began to fear the construction of Kurdistan and the division of Turkey, especially after the victory of the Kurdistan Freedom Movement and its superiority in its military campaign, and the rise in the level of influence of the Freedom Movement in Kurdistan and in the Middle East. Therefore, through the head of the Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahceli, and under the name of “eliminating terrorism,” there was talk once again about stopping the war and finding solutions.

Simultaneous with Bahceli’s speech, Mr. Ocalan launched a call for peace and a democratic society, and in this context, the announcement of the laying down of arms and the dissolution of the PKK was made. Between Ocalan’s call and Turkey’s initiative, where will things go? Can Turkey overcome the limits of its Turanist mentality and get rid of the phobia and obsession with the Kurdish issue and resolve it in peaceful and democratic ways?

Turanian mentality is the basis of Turkish racism

Turkish racists introduced the Turanian mentality and the Turanian project based on the development of Turkism and Turkish nationalism, Turkifying all components within the borders of Turkey, as well as reviving history to achieve the agendas and projects of Turkish racists. The Turanian mentality is based on the idea that the Turks are the source and origin of all civilizations, and that the early Turks went from Anatolia to Egypt, Iraq, and the Levant and built the civilizations of the world, and that all prophets and messengers are of Turkish origin, and that all the languages of the world originate from the Turkish language, and that the Tatars, Mongols, Turkmens, and Khazars are originally Turks; therefore, it sees Turkish nationalism as higher and more sublime than all nationalisms.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is the founder of the Turkish Republic, and he is the one who worked and struggled for Turanism. He is the one who promoted it and spent billions of dollars for it. According to this mentality, Ataturk presented policies of genocide and denial of other nationalities in Turkey; meaning that Turkish racism started from a Turanian mentality. The Turanian mentality rejects pluralism and cultural, national, and political rights, and does not accept the existence of anything other than Turkism. Since its founding, the Turkish Republic has practiced such a racist policy; meaning that to be Turkish means that you are lucky, otherwise you do not exist and are not recognized at all. Ataturk placed all the institutions of the Republic, whether educational, media, military, or political, in the service of Turkification; therefore, he adopted various types of genocide and assimilation policies with the Kurds in particular, and all Turkish governments followed this approach and did not deviate from it, and even in those times when there were steps and indications of flexibility in dealing with the Kurds, such as the 2013-2015 talks, Turkey did not back down from the Turanian mentality or from racism either. Expressing some flexible stances, such as the stance of former Prime Minister Turgut Ozal in 1993 or the stance of current Prime Minister Erdogan in 2002-2009, did not change the reality of the dominant Turanian mentality in Turkey; rather, such stances were linked to the escalating fears for Turkey and the advancement of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

Overcoming Turanist mentality is the basis for the call for peace and a democratic society

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was founded in 1978 as a movement for the liberation of Kurdistan. The July 15 military campaign began in 1984 with a manifesto for the liberation and unification of Kurdistan. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the world entered a unipolar phase led by the United States of America. Mr. Ocalan conducted an intellectual and political review of the Kurdish issue and the crises of the Middle East and came to the conviction that the nation-state is not a solution to the Kurdish issue, and that this state is a tool and means for capitalism to divide and control the Middle East, incite disputes, and create crises in it. Therefore, Mr. Ocalan searched for solutions other than the nation-state solution to break the closed circle of war and annihilation. At that time, Ocalan dealt with Turgut Ozal’s call to end the war and resolve the Kurdish issue; however, the Turanist mentality removed Turgut Ozal from the scene and adopted ending the Kurdish issue and eliminating it by military means, so that Mr. Ocalan was not given the appropriate opportunity to make radical changes in the military approach.

The magnitude of the 1999 conspiracy and the developments associated with it, as well as the statement of the reality of the world order, which Mr. Ocalan described as “Leviathan” (that savage mentioned in the Torah), and the analysis related to construction and development, and the confrontation of humans with power, and the world’s orientation towards freedom; all of that made Mr. Ocalan reach the conviction that the solution to crises and problems in the Middle East lies in democratic societies and democratic confederalisms and the brotherhood of peoples, under the name “Paradigm of the Democratic Nation”; meaning overcoming the mentality of the nation-state and the system of one color, one flag, one state, and the current borders between societies throughout the Middle East, through the establishment of the Democratic Confederation of the Middle East, as well as through overcoming the Turanist mentality in Turkey and establishing the Democratic Republic, which became clear through the call for peace and a democratic society.

Mr. Ocalan clarified his democratic project on the basis of transcending the nation-state; meaning dismantling the foundation of the nation-state without separating from it, through the establishment of societal democracy as well as the distribution of power from top to bottom. In this context, terms such as “brotherhood of peoples,” “women’s freedom,” and “self-administrations” have emerged as a foundation, becoming alternatives to authority.

Project Mismatch (Contradiction Between Them)

Undoubtedly, there are two conflicting mentalities and projects converging in Turkey and Southern Kurdistan, where the existence of one project negates the other. Whenever the Kurds achieve democratic gains in Turkey or elsewhere, the Turanist mentality and ideology entrench themselves, escalate Turanism and undemocratic laws, work to restrict the democratic struggle, arrest Kurdish politicians, and launch large-scale military campaigns against the Kurds. Here, we recall the development of the self-administration model in Western Kurdistan (Rojava). Despite this model being outside the borders of the Turkish state, the Turanist mentality in Turkey has escalated, leading Turkey to declare a continuous war against Western Kurdistan (Rojava), Northern Kurdistan, and Southern Kurdistan, disregarding the “Dolma bahçe” agreements and meetings, which were supposed to peacefully resolve the Kurdish issue.

The two projects are different and contradictory. Both target the foundation upon which the Turkish Republic was established. Mr. Ocalan’s project includes: participatory democracy, the elimination of oppression, women’s freedom, environmental protection, peaceful coexistence, resolution of the Kurdish issue, elimination of gender discrimination, the end of the nation-state, and decentralization of power. As for the Turanist mentality project, it aims to: impose Turkishness, Turkify people, the environment, culture, language, and peoples, expand into and occupy regions, and reject other languages, cultures, and nationalities, meaning that it aims – through the extermination of other nationalities – to build a pure Turkish nation.

Where is Turkey headed?

The head of the extremist Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahçeli, after the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, in the vicinity of Gaza, said that he could give Ocalan the opportunity to speak in Parliament and that he would also release him if Ocalan dissolved the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Following that, Mr. Ocalan announced his readiness for peace, and on February 27, 2025, the Imrali delegation announced Mr. Ocalan’s message (The Call for Peace and Democratic Society) to the public.

From April 5-7, 2025, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) held its twelfth conference. During the conference, the party announced its dissolution and also declared that it would lay down its arms. On July 11, 2025, during special ceremonies and as a symbolic gesture, a group of the party’s fighters burned their weapons in the city of Sulaymaniyah in southern Kurdistan. In this context, Turkish President Erdogan expressed his happiness with this step, saying: “This step, taken on the path to achieving our goals in the context of establishing a (Turkey without terrorism), we hope will be a means and a way to good. We also pray to God to grant us the opportunity to achieve our goals in consolidating security for our country, stability for our people, and spreading lasting peace in our region.” (Anadolu Agency).

However, Turkey always talks about eliminating terrorism, and the main issue for it is the laying down of arms by the Kurdistan freedom movement, not only the PKK’s weapons, but the weapons of all groups, parties, and movements that take Mr. Ocalan and his paradigm as their basis, such as the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the Free Women’s Units Star (YJASTAR), as well as all organizations in the region and the world. At a time when the aforementioned organizations carry out their work away from the PKK, and they operate outside the Turkish borders and follow other countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Syria; meaning that Turkey does not deal with the essence of the problems (the Kurdish issue), but rather talks about dissolving those organizations and laying down their arms; and this raises concerns and questions for everyone: what is Turkey planning?

Mr. Ocalan has clearly indicated that his call opens the way for peace, and that this call needs democratic negotiations and discussions. The PKK has also stated that it will not take unilateral steps and will not show any positive and good intentions, and the party indicated that it will wait for the steps that Turkey will take. Meaning that there is no trust between the PKK and Turkey, and that Turkey – away from words and slogans – must take practical steps, such as: the freedom of Mr. Ocalan and prison detainees, the formation of solution and discussion committees, and a radical change in the country’s constitution.

Based on previous peace experiences, Turkey has not shown seriousness in the peace process, and considers that the peace steps taken by the PKK stem from the party’s weakness and defeat. But this time, the situation seems different from its predecessors and Turkey seems hesitant; its approval of the call for peace and a democratic society exposes the structure of the Turkish state based on Turanist mentality to collapse, and rejecting the call for peace and a democratic society makes Turkey vulnerable to the accelerating winds of change in the Middle East and makes it vulnerable to division as well; Mr. Ocalan had warned of this repeatedly, and the PKK’s continued unilateral steps, as well as its continued laying down of arms, expose the Kurdish issue to the danger of elimination and make the Kurdish people without protection; therefore, Turkey does not have the courage to pursue the peace project to the end, and the PKK also does not trust Turkey to the end; therefore, the two sides are taking steps that can be described as slow and hesitant.

Turkey and the PKK are facing a major transformation; either resolving the Kurdish issue peacefully in accordance with Mr. Ocalan’s call for peace and a democratic society, which will serve peace and contribute to ending wars, and Turkey will be preserved and the Kurdish issue will be resolved peacefully, or the state of mistrust and Turkey’s lack of seriousness will continue with its Turanist mentality; then there will be no chance for peace, and Turkey and the Kurdish people will enter into a devastating war, a war of existence or non-existence.

In conclusion, what are the possible scenarios?

• Turkey’s transformation towards democracy as an inevitable and urgent necessity, and its acceptance of Mr. Ocalan’s call for peace and a democratic society, which is the ideal and most appropriate solution to the Kurdish issue and the crises in Turkey. Turkey should come to the conviction that Mr. Ocalan’s project is the last chance for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue.
• Turkey deals with the call in an evasive manner or as an attempt to buy time in the hope that the political circumstances that pose a threat to Turkey will change or disappear, and its insistence on continuing with racism and the Turanist mentality; which would fire the last bullet on the chances of peace in the country.
• Turkey’s return to practicing a policy of genocide and military campaigns, at which point the call for peace and a democratic society will no longer have any meaning, and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party will retract all the steps it has taken; at which point things will move towards the division and fragmentation of Turkey; because the war will go beyond the stage of war in the mountains to an internal war that brings with it woes, and it will no longer be possible for the Kurdish people to remain within the borders of Turkey; meaning that it will separate from it.

Undoubtedly, we should not ignore the role and influence of regional and international powers; especially Israel, Europe, and America, and their vision for the future of Turkey and the plans they have prepared; hence, it seems that there are two contradictory mentalities in Turkey, and each mentality will not only determine the future of Turkey or the future of the Kurds, but will draw the future of the region and the Middle East in general; therefore, Turkey must either take the democratic mentality and pluralism as its basis; thus ensuring its survival and existence, or continue with the Turanist mentality and national racism; thus, Turkey will move towards division and collapse.