The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is calling for the release of its historic leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who is being held in a Turkish prison, in order to continue the peace process, Beşe Hozat said today in an interview with Agence France-Presse.

"It is our first demand and a basic condition for the peace process to continue," said the head of the PKK women's organization and co-chair of the KCK organization after the symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq was completed."If this does not happen, it is unlikely that (the process) will continue successfully," she added.

Hozat also said that the PKK would like to participate in the political life of Turkey. The Turkish state must grant us the right to participate in democratic politics (…) We are ready and willing to commit to the democratic politics of Turkey, she assured.

At the same time, however, the PKK is demanding security guarantees so that its fighters can return to Turkey. Without legal and constitutional guarantees, we will either end up in prison or dead, Beşe Hozat stressed.