The People’s Equality and Democracy Party, known as DEM, played a key role in facilitating renewed dialogue between the Turkish state and the PKK after jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called in February 2025 for the group to lay down arms and pursue a political settlement.

Speaking to party lawmakers in parliament, DEM co-chair Tulay Hatimogullari said the government had failed to build on the momentum created by Ocalan’s appeal and was slowing progress toward a lasting resolution.

“While such a bright outlook lies ahead of us, and we should be moving at full speed toward the goal of peace, the government is acting in a hesitant, timid and stalling manner,” Hatimogullari said.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, halted attacks and announced in May 2025 that it had decided to disband and end its armed insurgency, which has killed more than 40,000 people since it began in 1984.

Ankara, however, has insisted that the group must take further concrete steps and that any disarmament must be independently verified before broader political or legal reforms can proceed.Government officials and Kurdish representatives have repeatedly traded blame over the pace of implementation, with tensions rising more than a year after expectations of a breakthrough first emerged.

In February, a Turkish parliamentary commission overwhelmingly approved a report outlining a roadmap for legal reforms to accompany the PKK’s disbandment, moving the peace process further into the legislative arena.

The conflict has destabilized Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast for decades and has also spilled across borders into northern Iraq and Syria, where Kurdish militant networks remain active.Hatimogullari said prolonged hesitation risked weakening trust and damaging the broader political opening created by recent developments.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has not publicly responded to her latest remarks.

The attack took place in the province of Kahramanmaras, where Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said six of the injured were in critical condition. Authorities ruled out terrorism, describing the incident as a personal act carried out by a student.

“This was solely a personal attack carried out by one of our students, it is not a terror incident,” Ciftci told reporters.

Governor Mukerrem Unluer said the attacker, an eighth-grade pupil, entered two classrooms of younger students armed with five firearms and seven magazines, which authorities believe belonged to his former police officer father.

The suspect later killed himself during the incident, the governor added.The shooting targeted fifth-grade students, typically aged 10 to 11, and caused casualties “indiscriminately,” Unluer said.

The attack follows another school shooting a day earlier in Sanliurfa that left 16 people injured, raising concerns over school safety in a country where such incidents are rare.Officials said the suspect’s father had been detained as part of the investigation.

Turkey has relatively strict gun laws, requiring licenses and setting a minimum age of 21 for legal ownership, though firearms remain accessible, particularly among security personnel permitted to carry weapons.

Authorities said they would consider additional safety measures following the incidents but did not provide further details.