Jailed Turkish Kurd leader Abdullah Ocalan said in a message published Tuesday that it was "crucial" for the Turkish government to broker a peace deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Damascus government.
"It is essential for Turkey to play a role of facilitator, constructively and aimed at dialogue ... This is crucial for both regional peace and to strengthen its own internal peace," Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, said in a message relayed by Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM party.
Earlier this year, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) ended its four-decade armed struggle against Turkey at the urging of its jailed founder Abdullah Ocalan, shifting its focus to a democratic political struggle for the rights of Turkey's Kurdish minority.
The ongoing process has raised hopes among Kurds across the region, notably in Syria where the Kurds control swathes of territory in the north and northeast.
Turkey has long been hostile to the Kurdish SDF force that controls swathes of northeastern Syria, seeing it as an extension of PKK, and pushing for the US-backed force to integrate into the Syrian military and security apparatus.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
English (US) · 