Cease-fire halts decades-old conflict between Turkey, Kurds
March 1 (UPI) -- The militia wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party announced a cease-fire with immediate effect Saturday to halt decades of conflict between Turkey and the Kurds.
The cease-fire announcement comes two days after the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which uses the acronym PKK, asked the militia to cease hostilities and dissolve the organization, CNN, the BBC and NPR reported.
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan called for the cease-fire while still imprisoned in Turkey.
"I am making a call for the laying down of arms and I take on the historical responsibility of this call," Ocalan said Thursday in a written statement. "All groups must lay [down] their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself."
The conflict between Turkey and the PKK has raged for more than 40 years and claimed an estimated 40,000 lives. The conflict also has affected several other nations, including Iraq.
"We agree with the content of leader Ocalan's call as it is and we state that we will comply with and implement the requirements of the call from our own side," PKK Executive Committee members announced in a prepared statement. "We declare a cease-fire effective as of today."
For the cease-fire to work, the PKK Executive Committee said, "Democratic politics and legal grounds must also be appropriate."
Ocalan formed the PKK in 1978 and went to war with Turkey soon after while trying to establish an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey.
Kurds comprise up to 20% of Turkey's population and account for significant portions of the populations in Syria, Iran and northern Iraq.
Turkish authorities arrested Ocalan in Kenya in 1999, sentenced him to life in prison for treason and only allowed him to have limited contact with others outside of the prison.
Hostilities ramped up quickly in August 1984 when PKK militants killed two Turkish soldiers and mostly have continued since.
A cease-fire was implemented in 2013 but ended two years later at peace talks failed amid rising tensions between the PKK and Turkey.
Ocalan on Thursday said relations between the Kurds and Turkey were broken during the prior 200 years but welcomed an opportunity to end the conflict.
"Today, the main task is to restructure the historical relationship," Ocalan said.
Peace prospects between Turkey and the PKK appeared grim until recent months, but at least three Turkish delegations have visited Ocalan over the past three months.
Turkish lawmaker Devlet Bahceli invited Ocalan to appear before the Turkish Parliament and announce he has ceased hostilities with the Turkish government.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to run for a third term in 2028, which would require approval from Turkey's Grand National Assembly.
Turkish law places a term limit of two five-year terms for the nation's presidency.
For Erdogan to be approved to seek a third term, he needs the support of the Grand National Assembly in which the Kurds have significant representation.
Recent violence between the PKK and Turkish forces could complicate the current cease-fire.
Turkish forces have ramped up efforts to eliminate Kurdish forces and in February suggested new leadership in Syria wipe out the Syrian Democratic Forces that are led by Kurds.
The PKK in October claimed responsibility for an attack that killed five at the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries in Ankara.
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Newsweek
22 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Freedom Flotillas: The Deadly History as Greta Thunberg Detained by Israel
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San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Israel seized a Gaza-bound boat with Greta Thunberg on board. Can it do that?
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Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Israel seized a Gaza-bound boat with Greta Thunberg on board. Can it do that?
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli naval forces, far from the country's shores, intercepted and seized a Gaza-bound ship carrying international activists, including Greta Thunberg, in an early morning raid Monday. The operation sparked accusations that Israel's actions, apparently in the high seas, were a breach of international law. The activists say their journey was meant to protest Israel's ongoing war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there. The ship was carrying aid destined for people in Gaza, including baby formula and food. The activists, including Thunberg, were detained and were headed to Israel for likely deportation. It's not the first time Israel has halted ships carrying aid bound for the Palestinian territory. A raid in 2010 descended into violence between activists and Israeli commandos, leaving eight Turks and one Turkish-American killed. Most of the other operations against Gaza-bound boats have ended uneventfully, with ships diverted and activists detained. Israel says the latest ship planned to violate its blockade on Gaza and says it acted in accordance with international law. Can Israel storm a ship in the high seas? Here is a look at the legal debate. Intercepted far off the coast of Gaza The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organized the latest ship, says the Madleen was intercepted in international waters some 200 kilometers (124 miles) off the coast of Gaza, a claim that could not be independently verified. Israeli authorities have not disclosed the location where the ship was halted. Robbie Sabel, an international law expert and former legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a state only has jurisdiction up to 12 nautical miles (19 kilometers) from its shores. In general, states don't have the right to seize ships in international waters, but there are exceptions, including during armed conflict, Sabel added. He said that even before the latest war, Israel was in an armed conflict with Hamas, allowing it to intercept ships it suspected were violating its longstanding blockade of Gaza, which Egypt also enforced. Rights groups have long criticized the blockade as unlawful collective punishment against Palestinians. Sabel cited a U.N. report on the 2010 raid that ended in activist fatalities, which stated that 'attempts to breach a lawfully imposed naval blockade place the vessel and those on board at risk.' The debate over the legality of Israel's blockade remains unresolved among legal experts. The U.N. report urged states to be cautious in the use of force against civilian vessels and called on humanitarian missions to deliver aid through regular channels. It said a country maintaining a naval blockade 'must abide by their obligations with respect to the provision of humanitarian assistance.' 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Gaza and Israel's obligations under international law Rights groups say the legal questions are complicated by Gaza's unique status. The United Nations and much of the international community view Gaza as Israeli-occupied territory, along with east Jerusalem and the West Bank, all of which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want the three territories to form their future state. Israel argues that it withdrew from Gaza in 2005, when it pulled out its soldiers and settlers, even though it maintained control over Gaza's coastline, airspace and most of its land border. Hamas, which does not accept Israel's existence, seized power in Gaza two years later. Amnesty International says Israel has an obligation as the occupying power to make sure that Palestinians in Gaza have enough access to humanitarian supplies, something Amnesty says Israel was preventing by not allowing the Madleen through. Amnesty and other groups see the seizure of the Madleen as part of a campaign by Israel throughout the war to limit or entirely deny aid into Gaza. Israel says it has allowed enough aid to enter Gaza to sustain the population and accuses Hamas of siphoning it off, while U.N. agencies and aid groups deny there has been any systematic diversion. Israel's aid policy during the war has driven the territory toward famine , experts say, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accused by the International Criminal Court of using starvation as a method of warfare by restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza, charges he has rejected. 'By forcibly intercepting and blocking the Madleen, which was carrying humanitarian aid and a crew of solidarity activists, Israel has once again flouted its legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip,' Amnesty International's secretary general, Agnès Callamard, said in a statement. The group called for the immediate and unconditional release of the activists, who it said were on a humanitarian mission. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
