“In recent remarks of Karayılan, we see an approach which says they would lay down arms before normalization. This is not a correct approach. The normalization stage would only be discussed after weapons are laid down. Can there be normalization with armed people? … It seems that Karayılan misunderstood that part [of the settlement process],” Akdoğan said during a live interview on Friday night.
In a bid to resolve the country's decades-old terrorism problem, at the end of last year the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government launched negotiations with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is incarcerated in prison on İmralı Island in the Sea of Marmara. In past months, Öcalan, who despite his 14 years in prison still wields enormous clout over PKK terrorists as well as millions of nationalist Kurds in Turkey, called on PKK terrorists to lay down their arms and leave Turkey.
In response to Öcalan's call, Karayılan announced on Thursday that the withdrawal of PKK's armed forces from Turkey will begin on May 8.
Karayılan stated that disarmament of the PKK depends of government's steps and that terrorists would not lay down their arms until Öcalan is released from prison. "The laying down of arms will be brought to the agenda only when all members of the Kurdish movement, including our leader Öcalan, are freed," he said. However, the government and Öcalan previously agreed that the PKK should lay down its weapons and then leave Turkey. Commanders of the terrorist group are reluctant to do so for security reasons.