Shafaq News– Imrali
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan called on Turkiye to assume a facilitating and dialogue-oriented role in Syria, arguing that Ankara’s engagement is critical both for regional stability and for strengthening its own internal peace.
In a New Year message released from Imrali, Ocalan urged Turkiye to adopt what he described as a constructive and mediating approach in Syria, warning that continued confrontation would deepen instability on both sides of the border. He said a shift toward dialogue “could ease regional tensions while addressing domestic fault lines linked to the Kurdish issue.”
Ocalan framed Syria’s prolonged turmoil as the outcome of decades of “centralized, repressive governance that denied political and cultural rights,” saying this had intensified demands for democratic representation among Kurds, Arabs, Alawites, and other communities. He argued that the absence of a political settlement continues to fuel fragmentation and conflict.
The remarks come against the backdrop of the March 10 agreement signed between the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government in Damascus. The agreement outlined a framework for dialogue aimed at integrating SDF-controlled areas into the Syrian state through political arrangements rather than military confrontation.
Read more: March 10 Syria–SDF Pact tested as unwritten timeline nears end-2025
However, clashes erupted repeatedly between the two sides, including in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Al-Ashrafiyah neighborhoods; confrontations in eastern Raqqa, where Syria’s Defense Ministry said SDF fighters attacked army positions before a counterattack; exchanges of mortar fire in the eastern Aleppo countryside near Deir Hafer; and a flare-up near the Tishrin Dam shortly after a ceasefire announcement. In Deir ez-Zor countryside, the SDF said it repelled an assault by Damascus-linked armed groups, reporting injuries among its fighters.
Turkiye has long opposed the SDF, viewing it as an extension of the PKK, which it brands as a terrorist group, and has repeatedly warned against any political model that could institutionalize Kurdish self-rule along its southern border.
Earlier this year, the PKK announced its dissolution and a formal end to its armed struggle against Turkiye, responding to a direct appeal from Ocalan.
Read more: PKK calls it quits: Peace on the horizon in Turkiye?