ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Senior Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) commander Murat Karayilan said Thursday that Ankara’s demand for full disarmament in exchange for legal steps is “imposing surrender,” further accusing it of “freezing” the peace process by not implementing necessary steps.

In an interview with PKK-affiliated media, Karayilan said that the Turkish government’s stance of asserting it will take necessary legal steps if all the group’s members lay down arms is “imposing surrender.”

“It would be irrational for us to lay down our arms without a legal guarantee,” the commander said, adding that “setting this as a condition actually means insisting on the impossible.”

In February, jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, the architect and mouthpiece of the process, declared its “second phase,” dealing with the establishment of a legal framework for democratic integration of the Turkish state institutions and society. 

Karayilan accused Turkish authorities of not having taken any necessary legal procedures to proceed with the initiative and build mutual trust.

“The government has not taken any concrete steps to build confidence, to inspire confidence, or to show that the process is being approached seriously, not tactically,” concluding that “the process has been frozen.”

“The state and the government have done nothing legally. There is no reassuring legal situation.”

The ongoing peace process has been largely stalled following the regional unrest that developed in late February, with Ocalan not having received any visits for over a month.

The commander dubbed the lack of visits “not only abnormal but also a warning sign for the future of the process.”

On February 18, the Turkish parliament approved a report drafted by the committee tasked with overseeing the implementation of the process. The report called for non-violent actions and freedom of expression not to be labeled as “terrorism,” and for the reintegration of members who gave up their weapons back into society.

In July, dozens of PKK fighters burned their weapons in a symbolic disarmament ceremony in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province, and earlier in November, the group announced it would completely withdraw from Turkish soil.

Karayilan said that 30 of the group’s members who burned their weapons “were ready to return [to society]. Were they able to go anywhere? No. Therefore, for their safety, they had to return to our area.”

Ocalan made a historic call from prison in February 2025, which was subsequently followed by the PKK announcing its intention to lay down its arms and dissolve in May.