The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has announced that it plans to disband and disarm, potentially bringing decades of conflict with Turkiye to an end.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the move on Monday for “peace and fraternity” in Turkiye.
The move was reported by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the armed group. The announcement, part of a new peace initiative with Ankara designed to end four decades of violence, followed a call in February by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for the group to lay down its arms.
After a party congress in northern Iraq that ended on Friday, the group said it had reached “historic” decisions that would be shared with the public soon.
Firat reported that a statement by Ocalan outlining his “perspectives and proposals” was read during the congress.
In a statement carried by Firat on Monday, the PKK announced that its armed struggle had successfully challenged policies that sought to suppress Kurdish rights.
The PKK has “completed its historical mission”, it read, and “the 12th PKK Congress has decided to dissolve the PKK’s organisational structure and end its method of armed struggle.”
“As a result, activities carried out under the name ‘PKK’ were formally terminated,” the statement said.
“If the new PKK decision is fully implemented, shutting down all PKK branches, illegal structures, it will be a turning point,” said Omer Celik, a spokesman for the governing Justice and Development Party, or AK Party.
Shifting regional sands
The announcement signals the potential end of a conflict that has plagued the region, spilling over into northern Iraq and Syria.
Iraq on Monday evening welcomed the PKK’s announcement to dissolve, calling it a step towards lasting regional stability.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad described the move as “a significant opportunity to promote peace efforts and end longstanding conflicts”.
Its statement also said the development would “strengthen security and stability in Iraq and the region” with the government hopeful it would reduce tensions across its northern borders.
The PKK presence in Iraq has long been a major source of tension with neighbouring Turkiye.
Earlier, the president of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, Nechirvan Barzani, s