Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in prison for the last 11 years, has declared that the "final decision" on the cease-fire will be announced in June. According to two interviews with his lawyers published in Kurdish information agencies, Öcalan further added that he is in favour of laying down arms as long as democratic principles are observed, and that debates and discussions on the current peace process will be held next March among the Kurdish population.

Even though Öcalan considers the democratic roadmap as the "most required", he warned that if there is no further progress by the Turkish authorities there is a risk of a "popular revolutionary war". In a second interview Öcalan strongly criticized the arrest and the mega-trial of Kurdish mayors and stated that "the arrest of elected officials show that the Turkish government wants to continue the war against Kurds". The leader believes that the Turks are trying to provoke the Kurds so that they resort to violence again.

European sentence against the banning of HADEP

The European Court of Human Rights has issued a unanimous decision stating that the dissolution of the Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP) by the Turkish state is "unfair". The court has declared that the banning of the party in 2003 violates article 11 (on freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In the meantime the Kurdish guerrilla keeps on condemning constant attacks by the Turkish militia against PKK settlements and nearby civil localities. Individuals are also victims of repression. That is the case of Kurdish writer Nevin Berktaş, who published a book entitled Difficult places that challenges the faith: Prison Cells. The work tells about her imprisonment after the 1980 military coup. She remained in prison for 5 years and 7 months, which means she was incarcerated for a period of time longer than the one admitted by the law. Today, Turkish courts have sent her to jail for "propaganda of an illegal organization."