Turkish President: We Wait for Good News at Any Time

Anadolu Agency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In his first public remarks following the PKK’s 12th congress, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that new developments may be imminent.

“We wait for good news at any time,” President Erdogan said during the “Strong Family with Mothers, Strong Türkiye with Family” programme, adding that authorities are “following the work without leaving the slightest gap, as befits the seriousness of the state.”

"We are advancing with firm steps on the path to the Terror-Free Türkiye goal. Our intelligence and other security units meticulously fulfill their duties," he said. "I believe that we will reach the Terror-Free Türkiye." 

The Turkish President's remarks comes a day after the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced that it has held its 12th congress and made "historic" decisions after a call by its leader to disband itself.

According to a statement by the PKK, the PKK’s 12th Congress convened upon the call of Leader Abdullah Ocalan. They did not say whether it had decided to disband or disarm in the statement.

Furthermore, the statement said that the Congress called on everyone to work together to achieve the peace and a democratic society, noting that extensive and detailed information and documents regarding the outcomes and decisions of the 12th PKK Congress will be shared with the public very soon, after the results from the two different areas are combined.

The PKK's congress comes amid ongoing efforts to establish a peace process following more than 40 years of conflict with the Turkish state. 

After 10 years, the Turkish state allowed a delegation from the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) to visit the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in late December last year at the Imrali prison. The delegation known as the Imrali delegation has made several more visits since then.

Ocalan, who has been serving a life sentence since 1999 at the Imrali prison, issued a statement through the Imrali delegation on 27 February 2025 calling for a revival of peace efforts and for the PKK to disband itself. 

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the PKK conflict, which has seen intermittent peace efforts over the years, most notably a ceasefire between 2013 and 2015 that ultimately collapsed.

The Turkish state insists that PKK must lay down arms and disband itself in order to make the peace process a success. The PKK has yet to announce such move.



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