According to Kurdpress, the People's Equality and Democracy Party (Dem Party) on Tuesday raised one of its harshest criticisms of the government's handling of the fragile peace process and announced the increase in tension between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) over the next steps to end the decades-long conflict.

According to the website us news, Dem Party, which is the third largest party in the Turkish Parliament, has played a mediating role in recent years in efforts to advance the peace process between the Turkish government and the PKK. A conflict that has left more than 40,000 dead since 1984.

Tolay Hatem Ogulari, the co-chairman of the Dem Party, in a speech to the representatives of this party, said that the Turkish government failed to keep up with the process created after the call of the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in February 2025 to lay down his arms.

He stated: "While we have a clear vision in front of us and we must move towards peace at full speed, the government is showing hesitant, cautious and procrastinating behavior."

According to him, all the involved parties, including the government, PKK and Dem Party, have been accusing each other of delaying the peace process for more than a year.

The PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, announced in May 2025 that it had stopped its attacks and decided to dissolve and end the armed struggle.

However, Ankara has stated that more must be done and that the group's disarmament must be fully verified before any wider legal or political steps are taken.

Meanwhile, a Turkish parliamentary commission overwhelmingly approved a report in February that lays out a roadmap for legal reforms to coincide with the dissolution of the PKK, moving the peace process into legislation.

The conflicts between the Turkish government and the PKK over the past decades have caused instability in the southeast of Türkiye with a majority Kurdish population and have even spread to the regions of Iraq and Syria.

Hatem Ogulari warned that any delay in the current process could jeopardize the entire peace process.