12-05-2025
Kurdish militants PKK to disband after four-decade insurgency against Türkiye
A Kurdish militant group that fought a four-decade insurgency against Türkiye has reportedly agreed to disband and lay down its weapons.
A news agency linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is a listed terrorist organisation in Türkiye, Australia, the United States and Europe, says it resolved to disband at a meeting in eastern Türkiye last week.
The group's jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, had called for the disbanding as part of a deal offered by the Turkish government for his release.
The PKK began its insurgency in pursuit of a Kurdish state, then later, greater Kurdish rights and autonomy.
Around 40,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict, which devastated some large eastern Turkish cities and spilled into neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
