IRBIL — Kurdistan Workers' Party co-founder Murat Karayilan said in Irbil that the group's peace process with Turkey has stalled. "The process is currently frozen. That's what we've been able to see and what has been reported to us," Karayilan said.

"We, as a movement, have fulfilled our responsibilities at this stage. It is clear that we have done everything necessary for the government to take action," he said.

The PKK declared a ceasefire and an end to its armed struggle as part of the peace initiative. Last year, the group declared that it would disarm and disband as part of the new peace effort with Turkey, following a call by Abdullah Ocalan for the PKK to lay down arms and dissolve itself. The PKK staged a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq and withdrew fighters from key locations in Turkey to Iraq.

Earlier this year, a Turkish parliamentary committee recommended reforms including the reintegration of PKK members who renounce violence and a requirement that security institutions verify that the group had surrendered its weapons. Turkish government and ruling party officials set April as the month to bring legislation on the peace initiative to parliament, but no bill was introduced by that deadline. The Turkish government has not released opposition politicians and activists from prison as recommended by the committee.

Ocalan remains imprisoned in solitary confinement on Imrali island off Istanbul, where he has been held since his capture in 1999. The PKK's decision at its 12th Congress to end its armed struggle and dissolve itself was approved on the condition that Ocalan personally manage the disarmament process, and the group's internal mandate cannot move forward while he remains in prison.

Kurdistan Communities Union spokesperson Zagros Hiwa said the umbrella body had taken several steps in line with Ocalan's call. He said Turkish forces continue to operate in parts of northern Iraq, government-appointed administrators occupy the seats of elected Kurdish mayors in Turkey, and thousands of Kurdish and Turkish political prisoners remain jailed. Hiwa said the Turkish government is using the peace process to strengthen the governing party's hold on power and improve its prospects in upcoming elections rather than seeking a settlement.

"The Turkish state has taken no legal and political steps towards peace and has been continuing war-time policies under new rhetoric," Hiwa said. "What happens next totally depends on the attitudes of the Turkish state."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered a different assessment. "The process is proceeding as it should," he said. "Those who write pessimistic scenarios about the process are acting entirely on their delusions, not on facts," Erdogan said.

The PKK has waged an armed insurgency since 1984 that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and spilled into neighboring Iraq and Syria. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. It initially sought an independent Kurdish state and later shifted its demands to autonomy and expanded rights in Turkey.