In an interview to German daily Die Presse's correspondent Wieland Schneder, KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) Executive Council President Murat Karayılan called on the EU to remove the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) from the list of terrorist organizations.

Karayılan remarked that the Turkish government must make the next step in the ongoing solution process, noting that the first phase, the withdrawal of Kurdish guerrillas from Turkish borders, is about to end by now.

Karayılan commented Gezi protests as a manifestation of Turkey's need for democracy, adding that he didn't think the protests would have a negative effect on the peace process in search of a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. “I am of the opinion that the public demand for democratization should be united with Kurdish people's demand for peace. There are no doubt nationalist circles among the demonstrators taking part in Gezi protests. This movement could therefore lead up to wrong ways should the protestors give the control away to these circles”.

Karayılan pointed out that the AKP government should understand the fact that Turkey's democratization depended on Kurdish question's solution.

Asked about his opinion about the consideration of the PKK as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU, KCK Executive Council President said that; “It is not acceptable that a movement sympathized by millions of Kurds is still being regarded as a terrorist organization. The EU can provide a contribution to the ongoing peace process by removing the PKK from the list of terrorist organizations. Should it fail to do so, it means that Europe is not interested in the peace process between the PKK and the Turkish state”.

Asked whether it was the situation in Syria that forced the Turkish state to establish dialogue with PKK, Karayılan said that, “It may have had some effects but is not the basic reason for the initiation of negotiations. The main reason is the revolutionary operation the Kurdish movement launched in Turkey's Kurdistan together with the Kurdish people. On the other hand, the formation of a defacto autonomy in the Kurdish region and the strengthening of the position of the Kurdish side in Syria has made the Turkish government angry”.

Karayılan, asked whether PKK had ties with the PYD (Democratic Union Party) or any other organizations in Syria, pointed out that PKK had no wings or organizations in Syria affiliated to itself. “There are a number of Kurdish parties in Syria and PYD is one of them. What differs PYD from other parties is the fact that it bases on our leader Abdullah Öcalan's ideology and philosophy. It is quite natural that a party or a person could be inspired by the ideology of a leader who has written over 300 books so far”.