Shafaq News- Ankara

The Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) in Turkiye is preparing a major overhaul of its structure and platform, aiming to resolve the Kurdish issue and end decades of conflict between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), local media outlets reported on Tuesday.

According to Turkish newspaper Haberturk, the party plans to change its name and internal bylaws while reshaping its leadership and organizational structure to fit a new political phase. The new name under consideration is expected to include the phrase “Democratic Republic,” signaling a shift toward democratic politics and away from armed struggle.

Haberturk also noted that the initiative seeks to expand the party’s appeal and reposition it as a nationwide political force. This would be the party’s second transformation since its 2023 launch under the Green Left Party banner, which replaced the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) as it faces a court case seeking its closure.

Central to the new phase is a single-umbrella model, with the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), and the Democratic Regions Party expected to join the structure, with the goal of consolidating all Kurdish and leftist movements under a unified identity.

A similar effort is underway in Iran, where five Kurdish parties have formed an alliance to strengthen their influence in the country’s political landscape, according to Karim Parwizi, a senior member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI).

Speaking to Shafaq News, Parwizi explained that the alliance brings together the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), the Khabat Organization of Iranian Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Toilers Association, and the KDPI.

These moves follow a February 2025 appeal by imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, urging fighters to surrender weapons and end a 40-year conflict with Turkiye that has claimed more than 40,000 lives. In the months that followed, some PKK fighters began withdrawing into northern Iraq, while symbolic disarmament events marked the start of what Ocalan described as a transition toward peace and integration. Despite these steps, Ankara continues to classify the group as a terrorist organization.

Read more: Turkiye’s cautious gamble: PKK disarmament and the regional chessboard