Separatist Kurdish group PKK to disband
The separatist Kurdish group, the PKK
, has agreed to lay down arms to end a 40-year war for autonomy against
Turkey
, a historic step that could strengthen the Nato member's aspirations to become a regional powerhouse.
The PKK decided to disarm and disband at a congress last week, the pro-Kurdish ANF news agency reported on Monday, after declaring a ceasefire on March 1st.
The group has been affiliated with US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces and the decision could ease tensions between Ankara and Washington over the future of Kurds and power sharing in Turkey's southeastern neighbour.
'The congress has assessed that PKK struggle has destroyed the policy of rejection and destruction against our people and has led the Kurdish issue to the point of solution via democratic politics, and that in this respect, the PKK has completed its historical mission,' ANF cited a statement from the congress as saying.
READ MORE
It is unclear whether Turkey will offer safe passage for the group's leadership to third countries or declare amnesty for thousands of militants if they return home. The PKK said its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, should lead the political process, according to the statement.
'At this stage, it's important for parliament to play its role with a historic responsibility.'
The conflict with the PKK has exacted a heavy toll on Turkey, with an estimated 40,000 people – most of them Kurds – killed since the insurgency began in 1984, including both militants and civilians.
During the height of the fighting in the 1990s, Turkish military campaigns in the southeast emptied entire villages, displacing hundreds of thousands and fuelling chronic regional instability.
Urban centres such as Istanbul and Ankara were repeatedly targeted in PKK-linked bombings, eroding public confidence and contributing to security concerns that weighed on tourism, investment and domestic political cohesion.
Turkish president
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has made resolving the Kurdish conflict a central aim as he seeks to thwart what he sees as the growing threat of Kurdish nationalism in the region. If successful, it would boost Turkey's aspirations to reshape the Middle East and burnish support for Mr Erdogan as he seeks to rewrite the constitution and extend his two-decade long rule.
Turkey is now facing the question of how to address demands from the PKK and the pro-Kurdish DEM party to improve rights for the ethnic group. They are calling for recognition of Kurdish identity and culture in the country's constitution and permission for Kurdish language teaching in schools, alongside the devolution of more powers to local authorities in Turkey's Kurdish majority southeast.
Kurds make up almost a fifth of Turkey's 90 million population. The bloody conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the PKK took up arms for autonomy in 1984. – Bloomberg
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
12 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Russia says it's pushing offensive into Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region
Russia said it was pushing into Ukraine's eastern industrial Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in its three-year offensive - a significant territorial escalation amid stalled peace talks. Moscow, which has the initiative on the battlefield, has repeatedly refused calls by Ukraine, Europe and US President Donald Trump for a full and unconditional ceasefire. At talks in Istanbul last week it demanded Kyiv pull troops back from the frontline, agree to end all Western arms support and give up on its ambitions to join the NATO military alliance. Dnipropetrovsk is not among the five Ukrainian regions over which Russia has asserted a formal territorial claim. It is an important mining and industrial hub for Ukraine and deeper Russian advances into the region could have a serious knock-on effect for Kyiv's struggling military and economy. Dnipropetrovosk was estimated to have a population of around three million people before Russia launched its offensive. Around one million people lived in the regional capital, Dnipro. Russia's defence ministry said forces from a tank unit had "reached the western border of the Donetsk People's Republic and are continuing to develop an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region". The advance of Russian forces into yet another region of Ukraine is both a symbolic and strategic blow to Kyiv's forces after months of setbacks on the battlefield. There was no immediate response from Ukraine to Russia's statement. Moscow in 2022 said it was annexing the frontline Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it did not have full control over. In 2014, it seized the Crimean peninsula following a pro-EU revolution in Kyiv. In a set of peace demands issued to Ukraine at the latest talks, it demanded formal recognition that these regions were part of Russia - something Kyiv has repeatedly ruled out. Tens of thousands have been killed in Russia's three-year offensive, millions forced to flee their homes and cities and villages across eastern Ukraine devastated by relentless air attacks and ground combat. In more than a decade of conflict with Kremlin-backed separatists and the Russian army, Ukraine has never had to fight on the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region until now. Ukrainian military personnel previously said that Russia could advance relatively quickly in the largely flat region, given there are fewer natural obstacles or villages that could be used as defensive positions by Kyiv's forces. The region - and in particular the city of Dnipro - have been under persistent Russian strikes for the last three years. Russia used Dnipro as a testing ground for its "experimental" Oreshnik missile in late 2024, claiming to have struck an aeronautics production facility. Earlier today, local Ukrainian officials said one person was killed in the region in an attack on a village close to the frontline.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Trump administration open to discussion on key issues, Merz says
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said his meeting with President Donald Trump convinced him that the US administration is open to discussion on key issues. Mr Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Mr Trump on Thursday as constructive but also candid, noting the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine. He said: 'Yesterday, in the meeting at the Oval Office, I expressed a distinctly different position on the topic of Ukraine than the one Trump had taken, and not only was there no objection, but we discussed it in detail again over lunch.' The White House meeting marked the first time the two sat down in person. Let's stop talking about Donald Trump with a raised finger and wrinkled nose. You have to talk with him, not about him Mr Merz, who became chancellor in May, avoided the kind of confrontations in the Oval Office that have tripped up other world leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa. The German chancellor presented Mr Trump with a gold-framed birth certificate of the president's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who emigrated from Kallstadt, Germany. Mr Trump called Mr Merz a 'very good man to deal with'. The American administration, Mr Merz said, is open to discussion, listens and is willing to accept differing opinions. He added: 'Let's stop talking about Donald Trump with a raised finger and wrinkled nose. You have to talk with him, not about him.' Mr Merz said he also met with senators on Capitol Hill, urging them to recognise the scale of Russian rearmament. 'Please take a look at how far Russia's armament is going, what they are currently doing there; you obviously have no idea what's happening,' he said he told them. 'In short, you can talk to them, but you must not let yourself be intimidated. I don't have that inclination anyway.' Donald Trump (left) greets Friedrich Merz upon his arrival at the White House (Alex Brandon/AP/PA) Mr Merz, who speaks English fluently, stressed the need for transatlantic trust and said he reminded Mr Trump that allies matter. 'Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States of America for a long time,' he said. 'But you also need partners in the world, and the Europeans, especially the Germans, are the best-suited partners. 'This is the difference between authoritarian systems and democracies: authoritarian systems have subordinates. Democracies have partners — and we want to be those partners in Europe and with America.' He reiterated that the US remains committed to Nato, particularly as Germany and others boost their defence spending. Mr Trump has in the past suggested the US might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries do not meet defence spending targets. Mr Merz said: 'I have absolutely no doubt that the American government is committed to Nato, especially now that we've all said we're doing more. 'We're ensuring that we can also defend ourselves in Europe, and I believe this expectation was not unjustified.' 'We've been the free riders of American security guarantees for years and we're changing that now.'
The Journal
3 days ago
- The Journal
At least four dead and 20 wounded in overnight Russian drone strikes on Kyiv
AT LEAST FOUR people have been killed and 20 people have been wounded after Russia fired ballistic missiles and attack drones at the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv overnight. It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed retaliation for an audacious Ukrainian drone attack on Russian airbases. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko shared the death toll on social media. AFP journalists heard explosions and air raid sirens echo out over the capital throughout the night. 'Kyiv came under another attack involving UAVs and ballistic missiles. Rescuers are responding to the aftermath at several locations across the city,' the State Emergency Service of Ukraine wrote on Telegram. AFP reporters saw a charred crater in the side of a high-rise residential block in Kyiv, with debris and broken glass strewn across the parking lot in front of the building. One image published by the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office showed a children's playground scattered with rubble and shards of glass. Deadly attacks have escalated in recent weeks even as the two sides hold talks aimed at finding an end to the three-year war, triggered by Russia's February 2022 invasion. People rest in a metro station, being used as a bomb shelter, during the drones attack. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Tens of thousands have been killed, cities and villages destroyed across eastern Ukraine, and millions forced to flee their homes with Russia's forces controlling around one-fifth of Ukraine's territory. Advertisement Russia carried out a barrage of drone and missile strikes across Ukraine overnight on Friday, targeting not only the capital but western regions like Lviv and Volyn, which border EU and Nato member Poland. Retaliation Earlier this week, Putin told US President Donald Trump that he would retaliate to a Ukrainian drone attack that damaged nuclear-capable military planes at Russian air bases, including thousands of kilometres behind the front lines in Siberia. The brazen operation, 18 months in the planning, saw Kyiv smuggle more than 100 small drones into Russia, disguised in a false roof of wood cabins, park them near Russian air bases and then unleash them in a coordinated attack. The Kremlin said Thursday it would choose 'how and when' to respond. There was no comment from Russian officials on the overnight strikes today. Putin has repeatedly rejected a ceasefire and Russian negotiators have issued a host of sweeping demands on Ukraine if it wants to halt the fighting. Putin vowed he would retaliate after a Ukrainian drone attack damaged nuclear-capable military planes at Russian air bases. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo They include completely pulling troops out of four regions claimed by Russia, but which its army does not fully control, an end to Western military support, a ban on Ukraine joining Nato as well as any Western military contingents or hardware being based in the country. Rescuers killed Multiple fires broke out in various districts of the capital, with the attack also damaging train tracks in the surrounding Kyiv region, leading to lengthy delays, the national railway operator said. Three of those killed were first responders from the state emergency service, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said. 'They worked under fire to help people. Another nine rescuers were wounded. Some of them are seriously injured, and doctors are fighting for their lives,' he wrote on social media. Related Reads Trump-Putin phone call will not lead to 'immediate peace in Ukraine', US President says Ukraine says it destroyed more than 40 military planes in drone attack in Russia Seven killed after two bridges destroyed by 'explosions' in Russian regions bordering Ukraine Several strikes also hit western Ukraine's city of Lutsk and Ternopil region. 'Today, the enemy carried out the most massive air attack on our region to date. There are multiple strikes,' Ternopil's regional military administration chief Vyacheslav Negoda said. At least 32 people were wounded in four different regions, including 15 in Lutsk, officials said. Russia said Ukrainian strikes overnight on Russia wounded three people in the western Tula region. The Russian defence ministry said it downed 174 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 10 headed for the Russian capital, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. With reporting from © AFP 2025 Want to know more about what's happening in Ukraine and why? Check out our new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online. Visit Knowledge Bank Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
