PKK Kurdish terror group ends 40-year war with Turkey

Yahoo

12-05-2025

A Kurdish militant group that has waged a 40-year insurgency against the Turkish state has agreed to lay down its arms and dissolve.
The announcement by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) followed its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, urging the group to disband two months ago saying there was no longer any reason for its armed struggle.
More than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK – designated a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies – launched its insurgency in 1984.
The move could end one of Turkey's most persisting security problems and have far-reaching consequences across the region on other Kurdish militias, particularly in Syria where they are allied with US forces.
Turkey has repeatedly bombarded PKK strongholds in northern Iraq, as well as Kurdish militias in north-eastern Syria.
The PKK's original aim was to create an independent state for Kurds, who make up about 20 per cent of Turkey's population.
However, it has more recently turned its attention to fighting for greater rights for Kurds within the country.
In a statement on Monday, the PKK said it had 'brought the Kurdish issue to the point of resolution through democratic politics, thus completing its historical mission'.
The group, which is based in the mountains of northern Iraq, added that Ocalan should lead the process and Turkey's parliament.
Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island off Istanbul since 1999, had urged his fighters to hold a congress to formalise the decision at the end of February.
Days later, the PKK's leadership accepted Ocalan's call, declaring a unilateral ceasefire, but attached conditions, including the creation of a legal framework for peace negotiations.
In a speech on Saturday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, hinted that news about a dissolution was imminent, adding that his government was determined to 'save our country from the scourge of terrorism'.
'We are advancing with firm steps on the path to the goal of a terror-free Turkey,' he said.
On Monday, Omer Celik, a spokesperson for Mr Erdogan's AK Party said the PKK's decision to dissolve was an important step towards a 'terror-free Turkey' and that the disbanding process would be meticulously monitored.
Concrete and complete implementation of the PKK decision would be a turning point, Mr Celik added.
The PKK's decision is likely to give Mr Erdogan a domestic boost and the opportunity to bring peace and development to the mainly Kurdish south-east, where the insurgency has handicapped the regional economy for decades.
Pro-Kurdish leaders in Turkey have said they hope that the government will expand rights for Kurds in the wake of the PKK's disarmament.
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