Fourth Week Of April : Öcalan Issues Warning and Demands on Peace Process

Weekly Turkey Report: Fourth Week Of April – Öcalan Issues Warning and Demands on Peace Process

Executive Summary:  

• Öcalan: If this process is similarly derailed, the fallout from the crises in Iran and Iraq could see 500,000 Kurds take up arms. Iran is there, Iraq is there. The situation of Kurdish forces is plain to see. They would turn that force against Turkey and bring it down. This is not a threat — I am warning you.  
• The Justice Ministry, now headed by Akın Gürlek, has established seven new department directorates spanning areas from counterterrorism and finance to narcotics and disinformation. Observers note that Gürlek has effectively assumed the role of a de facto “Chief Prosecutor of Turkey,” with the judiciary increasingly subordinated to the presidential palace. 
• Istanbul police’s Financial Crimes Unit conducted a second wave of operations against Uşak Municipality. Twenty-five individuals were detained in the raids, including CHP Uşak Provincial Chair Celalettin Çoban, as investigators carried out searches at a number of addresses. 
• Nineteen people, including Istanbul Ataşehir District Mayor Onursal Adıgüzel, have been formally arrested and remanded in custody following recent operations against CHP-run municipalities.
• The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) announced its April interest rate decision, keeping the benchmark policy rate unchanged at 37 percent — in line with market expectations.  
• Under the guise of a “ban for under-15s,” the law introduces mandatory age verification via the government’s e-Government portal — which Akdeniz characterized as a compulsory “digital identity” and surveillance system covering the entire population.  

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Medyascope columnist Ruşen Çakır published a report last week — without disclosing his source — relaying detailed statements attributed to imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Çakır indicated that the information was drawn from a meeting at İmralı Prison, either through a direct visit or via intelligence channels. The piece conveyed Öcalan’s assessments directed at both the government and the opposition.

Most notably, Öcalan warned that if meaningful steps are not taken within a short timeframe, the region could face a large-scale Kurdish-Turkish conflict. According to the account, Öcalan stated that a breakdown in the peace process could result in as many as 500,000 Kurds being mobilized — a force that could, in his words, be directed against Turkey. He emphasized that this was not a threat but a warning about a foreseeable scenario, stressing the urgency of reaching a durable solution:

• If this process does not reach a conclusion, one side will inevitably crush you. We have no quarrel with arms — I do not lean on weapons. We did not launch this process from a position of weakness. If it falls apart, the destruction will be immense. Back in 2012, I said that if the process failed, you would face an army of 100,000 — and Rojava proved me right. 
• If this process is similarly derailed, the fallout from the crises in Iran and Iraq could see 500,000 Kurds take up arms. Iran is there, Iraq is there. The situation of Kurdish forces is plain to see. They would turn that force against Turkey and bring it down. This is not a threat — I am warning you. I am alerting you to a possible development. I want to put my signature on the solution you call our common ideal. This matter must be resolved. Thousands of lives are at stake.
• They have built a structure for me — but its legal status is undefined. It is neither a prison nor a home. It is neither one thing nor another. Under these conditions, I cannot go to such a place. The political and legal dimensions must be addressed; a state does not operate this way. 
• The legal framework matters. I cannot live in peace with this ambiguity. I appear enthusiastic because I am engaged in something worthwhile — but telling me to ‘stay put and we will handle the rest’ is not acceptable. This is the reality of the political situation. But I will not say ‘amen’ to a prayer that cannot be answered. I do not hold it against anyone. If someone must be the last to be free, let it be me.

Opposition Figures Visit Demirtaş and Mızraklı in Prison

Delegations from the CHP, DEM Party, TİP, EMEP, and affiliated groups visited former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş and former Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Selçuk Mızraklı at Edirne Prison. Following the visits, the two released a joint statement on the ongoing peace process.

“We are closely following developments and are doing everything within our power,” the statement read. “Everyone should know that we are not counting the days until our release. Our imprisonment was as political as our release will be. Our foremost concern was to stop the loss of life from armed conflict — and for now, we are glad that this has been achieved. We hope that the legislation to follow will make this environment permanent. Turkey is pregnant with great changes. To ensure that these changes benefit our peoples and working people, we need far stronger and more principled alliances of struggle.”

Justice Ministry Expands Institutional Footprint Under Gürlek

The Justice Ministry, now headed by Akın Gürlek, has established seven new department directorates spanning areas from counterterrorism and finance to narcotics and disinformation. Observers note that Gürlek has effectively assumed the role of a de facto “Chief Prosecutor of Turkey,” with the judiciary increasingly subordinated to the presidential palace.

Second Wave of Raids Hits Uşak Municipality

Istanbul police’s Financial Crimes Unit conducted a second wave of operations against Uşak Municipality. Twenty-five individuals were detained in the raids, including CHP Uşak Provincial Chair Celalettin Çoban, as investigators carried out searches at a number of addresses.

19 Detained in CHP Municipality Operations, Including Ataşehir Mayor

Nineteen people, including Istanbul Ataşehir District Mayor Onursal Adıgüzel, have been formally arrested and remanded in custody following recent operations against CHP-run municipalities. CHP leader Özgür Özel sharply condemned Adıgüzel’s detention, arguing that no concrete evidence had been presented. Özel characterized the process as a “coup” against elected officials and municipal employees, accusing the government of undermining the rule of law, democracy, and social peace. “We will resist this coup to the end,” he declared.

In a related development, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi announced that seven separate investigations had been authorized against Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş over the past seven years, spanning seven different subjects.

Former AKP MP Denied U.S. Visa

Former AKP lawmaker Mehmet Metiner announced that his visa application to the United States Embassy had been rejected. Metiner attributed the refusal to his public opposition to U.S. and Israeli policies. “They handed me a written rejection. I informed the relevant Director General at our Foreign Ministry. I was dismayed to learn that Turkey does not apply the same treatment to Americans. There is no reciprocity on this matter,” he said.

Pro-Government Newspaper Declares Şimşek’s Anti-Inflation Programme a Failure

Yeni Şafak — a newspaper known for its close ties to the government, which has repeatedly criticized Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek over his economic and interest rate policies — ran the headline: “Şimşek’s anti-inflation programme has collapsed.” The article claimed that the more the policy persisted, the further it strayed from its targets, pointing to factory closures, a widening current account deficit, and sharp currency depreciation: the dollar up 125 percent, the euro up 145 percent.

Central Bank Holds Interest Rate at 37 Percent

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) announced its April interest rate decision, keeping the benchmark policy rate unchanged at 37 percent — in line with market expectations. The one-week repo auction rate was also left untouched, while the overnight lending rate was held at 40 percent and the overnight borrowing rate at 35.5 percent.

Miners March on Ankara; Union Leaders Detained

A group of miners affiliated with the independent Maden-İş union set out from Eskişehir on foot, marching toward Ankara to demand wages and benefits withheld for five months by Doruk Madencilik, a company belonging to the Yıldızlar SSS Holding. Police surrounded the workers as they attempted to march on the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

Maden-İş General Secretary Gökay Çakır and the union’s organizing specialist Başaran Aksu were both detained during the march.

Internet Anonymity to End Under New Legislation

Digital rights expert Yaman Akdeniz warned that amendments to Law No. 5651, recently passed by the Grand National Assembly, will effectively end anonymous internet use in Turkey. Under the guise of a “ban for under-15s,” the law introduces mandatory age verification via the government’s e-Government portal — which Akdeniz characterized as a compulsory “digital identity” and surveillance system covering the entire population. “The infrastructure for a transition to an authoritarian surveillance society is now officially in place,” he stated.

School Attack Victim Excluded from Official Lists 

Columnist Mahmut Arıkan raised a troubling case: Yusuf Tarık Gül, a child killed in a school attack, was initially omitted from official lists of victims. His name was only added — in parentheses — after public objections. Photographs of the child were not distributed to the press, and no cabinet minister attended his funeral. Arıkan noted that the apparent reason was the child’s father being a police officer dismissed under emergency decree (KHK). “In this country, even funeral prayers for children are subject to political lines. Have you no shame? Does your face not redden?” he wrote.

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