Karalyan said Ankara had tried to turn the Iraqi Kurdish regional government against the PKK
A Kurdish group that has led an armed struggle against the Turkish government for more than two decades has told Al Jazeera it is ready for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Murad Karalyan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), said his organisation remains on alert against the Turkish military, but is also open to resolving the conflict peacefully.
"Now, the situation is very delicate and dangerous. There are two possibilities, and we are ready for both; a big war or a peaceful resolution to the conflict," he told Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr from a secret location in Iraq's Qandil mountains.
About 40,000 people have died in the 25-year conflict between the Turkish authorities and the outlawed PKK, which is fighting for autonomy for Kurds living in southeast Turkey.
The PKK is closer than ever before to a negotiated solution with Ankara, Karalyan said."Turkey wasn't able to get rid of us militarily and they also tried politically and they failed. That is why a political solution is close," he said.
The PKK has bases ranged across Iraq's Qandil mountains, in an area where the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) does not have a presence.
The group's attempts to win self-rule for Turkish Kurds has been frustrated by a lack of support from other nations in the region, who each fear that recognising their own Kurdish communities' claims for autonomy could provoke instability.
But in the Kurdish heartland in southeast Turkey, the Democratic Society Party (DTP), a party which the PKK supports, won in local elections last January.
"If they get rid of the PKK in northern Iraq, it doesn't mean we are finished because we are inside Turkey and we are strong," Karalyan said.
The United States and Turkey have both designated the PKK as a terrorist organisation, and Ankara has tried to use the Iraqi Kurdish political parties to help them crush their opponents.
A Kurdish group that has led an armed struggle against the Turkish government for more than two decades has told Al Jazeera it is ready for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.Murad Karalyan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), said his organisation remains on alert against the Turkish military, but is also open to resolving the conflict peacefully.
"Now, the situation is very delicate and dangerous. There are two possibilities, and we are ready for both; a big war or a peaceful resolution to the conflict," he told Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr from a secret location in Iraq's Qandil mountains.About 40,000 people have died in the 25-year conflict between the Turkish authorities and the outlawed PKK, which is fighting for autonomy for Kurds living in southeast Turkey.
The PKK is closer than ever before to a negotiated solution with Ankara, Karalyan said."Turkey wasn't able to get rid of us militarily and they also tried politically and they failed. That is why a political solution is close," he said.
The PKK has bases ranged across Iraq's Qandil mountains, in an area where the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) does not have a presence.The group's attempts to win self-rule for Turkish Kurds has been frustrated by a lack of support from other nations in the region, who each fear that recognising their own Kurdish communities' claims for autonomy could provoke instability.
But in the Kurdish heartland in southeast Turkey, the Democratic Society Party (DTP), a party which the PKK supports, won in local elections last January.
"If they get rid of the PKK in northern Iraq, it doesn't mean we are finished because we are inside Turkey and we are strong," Karalyan said.
The United States and Turkey have both designated the PKK as a terrorist organisation, and Ankara has tried to use the Iraqi Kurdish political parties to help them crush their opponents.
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
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