In a historic move, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced a ceasefire with Turkey on Saturday, following a significant call from their imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, urging the group to disband.
This marks the first response from the PKK after Öcalan, who has been jailed since 1999, called for the dissolution of the PKK and an end to its armed struggle after over four decades of conflict with the Turkish state.
“In order to pave the way for the implementation of Leader Apo’s call for peace and a democratic society, we are declaring a ceasefire effective today,” the PKK executive committee said in a statement, referencing Öcalan. “We fully agree with the content of the call and will follow and implement it.”
The PKK, which has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, has fought since 1984 in pursuit of greater autonomy for Kurds, who make up around 20% of Turkey’s population.
Over the years, numerous efforts have been made to end the conflict, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives. However, the last round of peace talks collapsed in 2015, and there has been no significant dialogue until October of last year. At that time, a nationalist ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly offered a peace gesture, provided Öcalan rejected violence. While Erdogan supported the overture, his government intensified pressure on opposition groups, arresting hundreds of political figures, activists, and journalists.
Following several meetings with Öcalan at his prison on the island of Imrali, the pro-Kurdish Democratic People’s Party (DEMP) relayed his recent appeal for the PKK to lay down its arms and convene a congress to formally dissolve the organization.
