Öcalan sends message to London conference: without a democratic republic, integration won't happen

Rastinews — Abdullah Öcalan sent a message to the Peace and Democratic Integration Conference, held by the Centre for Kurdish Affairs on September 29-30 at Hamilton House in London.

Öcalan said his February 27, 2025 Call for Peace and Democratic Society had "opened the door to a new era." Lasting peace, he said, cannot be achieved simply by silencing weapons or through a single piece of legislation.

"These friends of ours will become subjects of civilian life"

Öcalan said legal and political conditions must be created to allow those who took part in the armed struggle to return to political and civilian life.

"Once the process is complete, these friends of ours will become subjects of democratic debate, of law, and of civilian life," he said.

"Without law, existence cannot gain status"

Öcalan stressed that the process must be backed by legal guarantees. He called for recognition of democratic society, and for language and culture to develop freely. He also demanded expanded powers for local governments and a constitutional citizenship arrangement.

"Without law, existence cannot gain status; without it, democratic struggle has no ground to stand on," Öcalan said, adding that lasting peace requires reciprocal steps.

"If the republic does not democratize, democratic integration cannot happen either," he said.

"Dissolution is not surrender"

In his message, Öcalan also said the PKK had completed its historic mission. Every revolutionary structure, he said, must evolve into a new form once its mission is fulfilled.

"Dissolution is not an ending or a surrender — it is a passage to a new stage of history," he said.

Öcalan said the strategy of national liberation war had given way to democratic politics. "Weapons must no longer be sanctified; society must be built," he said.

"The goal is not separation"

Öcalan said the Kurds' relationship with Turks, Arabs and Persians cannot be resolved by drawing new borders, pointing instead to "democratic integration" as the model for a solution. He defined integration as the opposite of assimilation.

According to Öcalan, the way forward in the Middle East lies not in the search for new nation-states but in "integrationist negotiation and the building of local democratic networks."

"The goal is not to separate, but to build a genuine democracy together," he said.

British politicians back the conference

The conference examines the Kurdish issue alongside peace and conflict-resolution experiences from other parts of the world. Former UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Labour MPs Catherine West and Bambos Charalambous said they support the conference.

Process began with the February 27 call

Öcalan had called on the PKK to lay down arms and dissolve itself in a February 27, 2025 statement from İmralı. Following a congress held in May 2025, the PKK announced the end of its organizational existence.