Jailed PKK leader Ocalan says armed struggle with Turkey is over

July 9 (Reuters) - Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to declare the group's armed struggle against Turkey over and call for a full transition to democratic politics.

In the recording, dated June and released by the PKK-affiliated Firat News Agency, Ocalan called on Turkey's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage a broader peace process.

"The phase of armed struggle has ended. This is not a loss, but a historic gain," he said.

"The armed struggle stage must now be voluntarily replaced by a phase of democratic politics and law."

The PKK, locked in a bloody insurgency for more than four decades and designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies, decided in May to disband after an initial written appeal from Ocalan in February.

Later on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party - the third biggest party in parliament which played a key role in facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision - said a group of militants would begin handing over their weapons in the northern Iraqi city of Suleymaniyah on Friday.

Since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984 – originally with the aim of creating an independent state in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast – the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, imposed a heavy economic burden and caused deep social and political divisions.

President Tayyip Erdogan said his government would not allow any attempts to sabotage the disarmament process, adding that Ankara would give people "historic good news".

"We are ridding Turkey of a half-century-old evil, totally ripping off and throwing away the bloody shackles that were put on our country's legs," he told members of his AK Party in parliament.

Erdogan and his government had long accused the People's Democratic Party (HDP) - DEM's predecessors - of having links to the PKK, arresting, detaining or removing from office several of its members. While DEM has denied any direct links to terrorism, the leftist party has played a facilitator role between Ocalan and Turkey's government in recent months.

END OF SEPARATIST AGENDA

Ocalan's video marks a rare and potentially pivotal moment in the long-running conflict, offering what could be Erdogan's most significant opportunity yet to seal a political settlement to the Kurdish issue, should his government choose to respond.

Seated in a beige polo shirt with a glass of water on the table in front of him, Ocalan appeared to read from a transcript in the seven-minute video – the first public footage or audio of him since his arrest in 1999. Six other jailed PKK members sat beside him, all looking directly at the camera.

He said the PKK, which has been based in northern Iraq's mountainous regions in recent years, had dropped its separatist agenda. "The main objective has been achieved – existence has been acknowledged. What remains would be excessive repetition and a dead end," he said.

Ocalan added that the DEM should work alongside other political parties to advance the peace process.

The PKK and DEM expect Ankara to address Kurdish political demands, potentially before weapons in Turkey are handed over.

DEM spokesperson Aysegul Dogan said the disarmament process must be made permanent through a series of legal assurances and with the formation of the necessary mechanism for the PKK to transition into democratic politics.

Erdogan later met Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, who is also set to meet Turkey's intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin on Wednesday to coordinate the parliamentary side of the disarmament process.

Ocalan's message came a day after Kalin visited Baghdad for high-level meetings with Iraqi officials on strengthening border security and potential steps towards a "terror-free Turkey", the Turkish intelligence agency said.

The Iraqi government voiced full support for joint efforts to eliminate armed groups from northern Iraq, it added.