Kurdish militant group PKK plans to disband, end conflict with Turkey
At the end of February, the group's imprisoned founder, Abdullah Öcalan, had called on the group to formally disband and disarm.
The PKK has been engaged in armed conflict and attacks since the 1980s, advocating for a Kurdish state or an autonomous region in south-eastern Turkey. However, the organization has since moved away from its demand for an independent state.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the European Union and the United States. According to the think tank International Crisis Group, approximately 40,000 people have been killed during the group's conflict with the Turkish state.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Donald Trump says he will ‘try to get some territory back for Ukraine' ahead of meeting with Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump has said he will attempt to get some territory back for Ukraine as he prepares to meet his Russian counterpart to discuss ending the war this week Ahead of his summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, the US President said there will be 'some swapping, some changes to land'. He has previously signalled that he thinks Ukraine might need to cede some territory to end the conflict. Reports have suggested this could involve giving up the Donetsk region to Russia, a proposal Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected as it would compromise his country's territorial integrity. During a press conference on Monday, Trump told reporters: 'Russia has occupied a big portion of Ukraine. 'We're going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine.' He added that the war will be 'solved' once Zelensky and Putin are 'in a room' together. "I'm here for one reason, to get rid of a war that somebody else started," he said. 'I'm going to put the two of them in a room - I'll be there or I won't be there - and I think it will get solved.' Downing Street has backed Trump's interventions over the Ukraine war but warned Putin cannot be trusted "as far as you can throw him". Kyiv has expressed concerns about the prospect of being excluded from peace talks this week to discuss the future of the Kremlin's invasion. Asked whether Sir Keir Starmer believes the Russian President could be trusted in negotiations, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said the UK supported both Kyiv and the US President's push for peace, but not Moscow. "Never trust President Putin as far as you could throw him, but we obviously will support Ukraine," he said on Monday. "We will obviously support President Trump and European nations as we enter these negotiations. "But it is exactly why we've been leading this work on the coalition of the willing, because any ceasefire, as I say, cannot just be an opportunity for President Putin to go away, re-arm, restrengthen, and then go again. "So, we're not going to leave it to trust. We're going to ensure that we're prepared such that we achieve a ceasefire." Planning for the so-called coalition of the willing, which would involve a European-led peacekeeping force sent to Ukraine to monitor any future truce, began in March. Number 10 said "operational planning continues at a military level" but no talks between leaders are planned for this week. Asked whether work relating to the coalition had been put on hold to keep the road clear for Washington-led mediation on Friday, the Prime Minister's spokesman said: "No... if anything, the next step really is reaching that ceasefire, such that we're then able to to implement the security guarantees." It comes after European leaders including Sir Keir said the path to peace for Kyiv "cannot be decided without Ukraine" and the current line of contact between Russia and Ukraine could only be a "starting point of negotiations". In a joint statement, the leaders of Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland and the European Commission said: "Ukraine has the freedom of choice over its own destiny. Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities. "The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine. "We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force."
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
Mamet Misconstrues Military Slavery History
David Mamet's op-ed 'Sorry, Billionaires—There's No Escape' (Aug. 7) establishes that, come the apocalypse, no amount of money will help the ultrarich reach safety because their aides will revolt and take over. To emphasize his point, Mr. Mamet includes a colorful sentence about historical Middle Eastern military slavery: 'The Ottoman Turks raised enslaved Mamelukes to the status first of guards and then of administrators, and all was well until the 'Lukes did the math and realized they didn't need the Turks.'
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
U2 members speak out on Gaza: ‘A test of our shared humanity'
The legendary band U2 has always been outspoken about their views and they are now sharing their thoughts about the conflict in Gaza. Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr., took to their official site to post statements condemning the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, speaking out in support of the safe return of the remaining Israeli hostages and calling for access to critical care for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. 'Everyone has long been horrified by what is unfolding in Gaza - but the blocking of humanitarian aid and now plans for a military takeover of Gaza City has taken the conflict into uncharted territory,' their site reads. 'We are not experts in the politics of the region, but we want our audience to know where we each stand.' 'Apart from the attack on the Nova music festival on October 7th, which felt like it happened while U2 were on stage at Sphere Las Vegas, I have generally tried to stay out of the politics of the Middle East,' Bono wrote in his individual statement. 'This was not humility, more uncertainty in the face of obvious complexity,' he added. 'I have over recent months written about the war in Gaza in The Atlantic and spoken about it in The Observer, but I circled the subject.' He went on to write that as 'a cofounder of the ONE Campaign, which tackles AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa, I felt my experience should be on the catastrophes facing that work and that part of the world' before stating that 'there is no hierarchy to such things.' Seeing 'images of starving children on the Gaza Strip' has been deeply grieving, Bono added, given his experience witnessing famine first hand in Ethiopia years ago. 'To witness chronic malnutrition up close would make it personal for any family, especially as it affects children,' he wrote. 'Because when the loss of non-combatant life en masse appears so calculated… especially the deaths of children, then 'evil' is not a hyperbolic adjective… in the sacred text of Jew, Christian, and Muslim it is an evil that must be resisted.' 'As someone who has long believed in Israel's right to exist and supported a two-state solution, I want to make clear to anyone who cares to listen our band's condemnation of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's immoral actions and join all who have called for a cessation of hostilities on both sides,' Bono wrote. 'If not Irish voices, please please please stop and listen to Jewish ones.' 'We are all deeply shocked and profoundly grieved by the suffering unfolding in Gaza,' his bandmate, The Edge, wrote. 'What we are witnessing is not a distant tragedy—it is a test of our shared humanity.' 'We know from our own experience in Ireland that peace is not made through dominance,' he continued. 'Peace is made when people sit down with their opponents—when they recognise the equal dignity of all, even those they once feared or despised.' Clayton and Mullen Jr. also shared individual statements, calling for preservation of civilian life and an end to the conflict.
