DEM Party sources: Öcalan to coordinate disarmament body, not sit as a member
The most striking detail to emerge from behind-the-scenes briefings concerns Abdullah Öcalan's role on the Disarmament and Strategic Coordination Board. Sources say Öcalan will not serve as a member but as coordinator. He is expected to set up a sub-coordination body under his own direction, through which steps on disarmament and political transition would then be carried out.
RastinewsOctober's National Security Council (MGK) meeting is expected to produce not a final decision but an "interim decision" signaling that the process will continue. Behind-the-scenes accounts say the real turning point will be Abdullah Öcalan's role on the Disarmament and Strategic Coordination Board.
New details have surfaced on how the process the government calls "Turkey Without Terror" and the DEM Party calls the "Peace and Democratic Society Process" will move forward in the coming weeks.
According to information attributed to DEM Party sources, practical work on the ground will continue until October's MGK meeting. But officials say it looks unlikely that all preparations will be finished by then.
October MGK expected to issue an "interim decision"
For that reason, sources suggest the October meeting will produce an interim decision pointing to the process's continuation rather than a final ruling. They say the sources expect a statement after the meeting on bringing the boards into operation.
Once the boards begin work and the process on the ground reaches a certain stage, the next regular MGK meeting may not be awaited, sources say. In that case, the MGK would reportedly be convened early to finalize its "confirmation and assessment" decision and announce it publicly.
"Coordinator, not member"
The most striking detail in the briefings concerned Abdullah Öcalan's position on the Disarmament and Strategic Coordination Board. Sources say Öcalan will sit on the board not as a member but as coordinator.
In that capacity, he is expected to form a sub-coordination body under his own direction, through which steps on disarmament and political transition would be carried out.
Politicians and Kurdish community figures on the coordination body
The planned coordination body is expected to include politicians, political actors and prominent figures from the Kurdish community. No final list of names has been set, according to the sources.
Sources say the body is meant to bring together figures capable of reaching different segments of society and connecting with the grassroots. That, they suggest, would keep the mechanism from being limited to the technical side of disarmament alone, extending it to the political transition as well.
The information was reported by İlke TV, which attributed it to DEM Party sources. Neither the government nor the DEM Party has issued an official statement on the claims.
The process began with Bahçeli's call
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli opened the door to the new process with a speech in parliament in October 2024, in which he called on Öcalan to act.
In the "Call for Peace and a Democratic Society" made public on February 27, 2025, Öcalan called on the PKK to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. The PKK announced its dissolution in May 2025, and a first group burned its weapons at a ceremony held near Sulaymaniyah in July 2025.