Having been driven to near extinction both within and across Türkiye’s borders thanks to counterterrorism operations, the PKK terrorist group is now pinning hopes of survival on Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the head of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the main opposition’s presidential runner for the May 14 elections.

Since early March, when the CHP-led six-party opposition bloc Nation Alliance named Kılıçdaroğlu as its candidate, eight PKK ringleaders in Qandil have voiced express support for Kılıçdaroğlu and the alliance.

The Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq are the PKK’s stronghold from where it devises and launches attacks on Türkiye, as well as nearby cities and towns.

After the "table for six," a common nickname for the Nation Alliance, confirmed his candidacy against incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kılıçdaroğlu rushed to pay a visit to the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a party known for its affiliation with the PKK and currently fighting a ban lawsuit because of it. The party is often shunned for "acting as the political extension of the PKK."

While not officially a part of the bloc, the HDP has given Kılıçdaroğlu its tacit support recently, announcing it would not field a presidential candidate in the May elections.

Having won over 10% of the vote in the past three national elections, the HDP was widely seen as a kingmaker in the tight race, despite the increasing threat of being barred from Türkiye’s politics.

In remarks following his one-on-one meeting with HDP co-Chairs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, Kılıçdaroğlu dropped a strong indication that should he win, HDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş and PKK ringleader Abdullah Öcalan, both jailed on terrorism charges of various degrees, would be released.

On top of abundant criticism by rivals and partners alike for his rapprochement with the party, Kılıçdaroğlu has since garnered the praise of so-called PKK seniors, Cemil Bayık, Murat Karayılan, Mustafa Karasu, Duran Kalkan, Bese Hozat, Helin Ümit, Sabri Ok and Remzi Kartal.

All invariably claimed, "Our alliance must end the AK Party-MHP fascism," referring to the People’s Alliance, an election bloc headlined by Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in partnership with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the Great Union Party (BBP) and the recent additions – New Welfare Party (YRP) and the Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR).

"They wanted to take down the 'table for six' but the alliance did not splinter. It’s now time for our leader Öcalan to be free," Karayılan, one of the PKK’s co-founders, was quoted as saying while another co-Chair Bese Hozat claimed May 14 elections had "historic significance."

"We find the HDP's stance of supporting the Nation Alliance valuable, important and meaningful. It will directly affect the outcome of the elections. We support this stance," Hozat told a PKK-affiliated channel last month.

Another "co-Chair" Sabri Ok too claimed it was "impossible" for the AK Party government to continue. "The May 14 elections are vital. Our purpose is of course politicking. The PKK will of course endorse someone," he said as Remzi Kartal, a PKK co-founder, emphasized: "Kılıçdaroğlu is a candidate to be supported. This is a historic opportunity to generate the push we want."

Erdoğan too slammed the collusion between the sides, saying, "The CHP and their partners have surrendered to the HDP and PKK’s divisive and anti-Türkiye agenda," and expressed faith that "the Turkish nation will not let terrorist supporters emerge victorious in the elections."

The PKK – designated as a terrorist organization in the United States, the European Union and Türkiye – has been waging a bloody terrorist campaign against Türkiye for four decades, attacking security personnel and civilians. It has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people since 1984, with its massacres peaking especially in the 1990s.