Latest news with #PKK-aligned
News18
09-07-2025
- Politics
- News18
PKK's Jailed Leader Ocalan Says Armed Struggle Against Turkiye Over Turkey News
Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has announced the end of the group's armed struggle against Turkiye, calling for a full shift to democratic jailed leader relayed his message via a video recording dated June, which was aired by the PKK-aligned Firat News Agency on Wednesday, describing the shift as a 'historic gain'.News18 Mobile App -
Arab News
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Kurdish militant PKK says ‘impossible' to safely meet on dissolution
ISTANBUL: The outlawed Kurdish PKK said it was currently 'impossible' for its leadership to safely meet to formally dissolve the group in line with a demand by its jailed founder, Kurdish media reported Friday. 'Every day (Turkish) reconnaissance planes are flying overhead, they are carrying out daily bombings and every day they are attacking,' the PKK's co-leader Cemil Bayik told the Kurdish television station, Sterk TV. 'Holding a congress in these conditions is impossible and very dangerous.' His remarks came two weeks after Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), urged his fighters to disarm and disband, ending a decades-long insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. In his historic call – which took the form of a letter – he urged the PKK to hold a congress to formalize the decision. Two days later, the PKK announced a ceasefire, saying it was ready to convene a congress but said 'for this to happen, a suitable secure environment must be created,' insisting it would only succeed if Ocalan were to 'personally direct and lead it.' Bayik on Thursday said the congress would happen 'if the conditions were fulfilled,' according to the PKK-aligned ANF news agency. The PKK leadership is holed up in mountainous northern Iraq where Turkish forces have staged multiple air strikes in recent years, targeting the group which is also blacklisted by Washington and Brussels. Despite the negotiations, there has been no indication that Turkish troops have stopped their operations against the PKK, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning against any delaying tactics. 'If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay... we will continue our ongoing operations... until we eliminate the last terrorist,' Erdogan said on March 1. On Wednesday, Erdogan said he would be willing to hold a meeting with a delegation from the pro-Kurdish DEM party – who played a key role in relaying messages between Ocalan and Ankara – 'if they ask for it.' The party confirmed requesting a meeting but said no date had been set. Many are hoping Ocalan's call will ultimately result in concessions for the Kurds, who make up around 20 percent of Turkiye's 85 million population.
The Independent
27-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Jailed Kurdish separatist leader calls for PKK to disarm in move that could shake up Turkey and Middle East
Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdish separatist PKK has called on his movement to lay down its arms and dissolve itself – in a move that could end its 40-year conflict with Turkey and have significant implications for the security of the wider region. Ocalan, 75, issued the order to disarm from an island prison south of Istanbul, where he has been kept in isolation after being captured in Kenya in 1999 by Turkish special forces. The PKK is banned as a terrorist group in Turkey, the EU, UK and US. If the PKK's leadership heeds its founder's appeal, which is not guaranteed, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would gain a historic opportunity to pacify and develop southern Turkey, where violence has killed thousands of people and devastated the regional economy. More than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK launched its armed campaign in 1984 for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey. It has since moved away from its separatist goals and instead sought more autonomy for southeast Turkey and greater Kurdish rights. 'I am making a call for the laying down of arms, and I take on the historical responsibility of this call,' Ocalan said in a letter made public by Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party members. The politicians held three recent meetings with the PKK leader at his island prison just four months after the idea was first raised by a political ally of Erdogan. Ocalan wants the PKK to hold a congress and to formally agree to dissolve itself, the politicians quoted him as saying. In the first reaction to Ocalan's appeal from Erdogan's ruling AK Party, its deputy chairman Efkan Ala said Turkey would be "free of its shackles' if the PKK truly laid down its weapons and disbanded. There was no immediate response from the PKK commanders' headquarters in the mountains of northern Iraq. But Ocalan's message is likely to ripple across factions of Kurdish armed groups spread across northern Iraq and Syria. A new central government in Iraq that is more willing to work with Turkey has already put them in a more vulnerable position. In Syria, where the ouster of Bashar Al-Assad in December has led to the establishment of a strongly pro-Turkey leadership in Damascus, Ocalan's call could prompt the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria to expel members of the PKK-aligned People's Protection Units (YPG), as Ankara has demanded. The group is currently in talks with the new authority in Damascus after the overthrow of former president Bashar al-Assad, negotiating control over northeastern Syria as well as their future role in a nationwide military force.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Explainer-A call for peace in Turkey: what's in it for key actors?
By Jonathan Spicer ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's 40-year battle against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) could be nearing an end after its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, called on the militant group on Thursday to lay down its arms and disband. Ocalan's statement, announced by the opposition pro-Kurdish DEM party that held three recent meetings with the PKK leader at his island prison, comes four months after the idea was first raised by a political ally of President Tayyip Erdogan. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. There was no immediate response to Ocalan's appeal from the PKK commanders' headquarters in the mountains of northern Iraq WHAT'S IN IT FOR ERDOGAN? Ending the insurgency would be a major achievement for Turkey's president after past efforts failed to resolve a conflict in which more than 40,000 people have died since 1984. Erdogan has called it "one of the last obstacles blocking the goal of a great and powerful Turkey". Though it remains unclear whether a ceasefire or peace deal could ultimately emerge, Ocalan's call may also boost Erdogan's own political prospects. In order to extend his rule beyond 2028, when his last term as president ends, he would need the support of an opposition party, perhaps DEM, in order to amend the constitution or bring about early elections. He could also capitalise on military gains against the PKK in mountainous northern Iraq, where it is based, and in Syria, where the ouster of Bashar Al-Assad in December has led to the establishment of a strongly pro-Turkey leadership in Damascus. Ocalan's call could prompt the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria to expel members of the PKK-aligned People's Protection Units (YPG), as Ankara has demanded. ANY RISKS? There are risks for Erdogan in resurrecting Ocalan, a figure reviled by most Turks, including supporters of his ruling AK Party (AKP). Mehmet Guner, head of the Martyrs' Families Association for Turkish troops, told Reuters he was "extremely unhappy and very angry" that the government backed Ocalan's public call. "For 40 years, this country has fought against terrorism, sacrificing thousands of martyrs and veterans... We absolutely do not find it appropriate to negotiate with the leader of the terrorists in this manner," he said. On the Kurdish side, if PKK fighters refuse to heed Ocalan's call and violence continues or even worsens, the distrust that many Turkish Kurds already have for Erdogan could deepen. WHAT'S IN IT FOR THE KURDS? The pro-Kurdish political movement, the target of a years-long judicial crackdown, will hope Ocalan's call eventually translates into democratic reforms and greater cultural and language rights for Kurds. A peace deal could also ease social tensions generally across Turkey, and boost the under-developed economy of its mainly Kurdish southeast. Shortly after one of DEM's meetings with Ocalan in December, Ankara announced a $14 billion regional development plan for the southeast. "Many Kurds simply do not trust the Turkish state. Any meaningful disarmament process would require concrete steps from Ankara - such as guarantees of political and cultural rights for Kurds - before, not after, a peace deal is made," said Gareth Jenkins, an Istanbul-based political analyst. If DEM continues to cooperate with Erdogan's AKP - reversing years of fierce opposition - it could also seek to have reinstated the many elected mayors that Turkish authorities have removed from positions and replaced with pro-government officials. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SYRIA? The Syrian Kurdish SDF, a key U.S. ally, is still battling Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian forces in the border regions. If SDF commander Mazloum Abdi can filter YPG members from his group, the Kurdish forces could more easily join Syria's newly-forming security structure, centralising and stabilising the country as it emerges from 13 years of civil war. "The YPG will likely heed Ocalan if he asks them to play nice with Turkey, even if some leaders in Qandil (the PKK headquarters in Iraq) advise the group to do otherwise," said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute. IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S.-TURKISH TIES? While the United States deems the PKK terrorists, it has been allied with the YPG's umbrella group in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. Turkey has sharply criticised this U.S. stance as a betrayal of a NATO ally. Steps toward ending the PKK insurgency could "remove the PKK thorn from U.S.-Turkish relations and pave the way for their anticipated reset under the second Trump administration," Cagaptay said. "Removing the PKK from Syria's political landscape would pave the way for Turkey to cooperate with Washington and the Syrian Kurds on many issues beneficial to U.S. interests, such as containing the Islamic State, rebuilding the country, and establishing stable Turkish ties with different Syrian groups," he said.
