After 40 years, Kurdish group PKK announces disbandment and end to Turkey insurgency

A senior PKK official confirmed to the Reuters that fighting would stop “immediately.” However, they added that handing over weapons would depend on how the Turkish government handles issues like Kurdish rights and the future of PKK members.

What is the PKK?

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is a Kurdish group that began an armed conflict with the Turkish government in 1984. It first aimed to form a separate Kurdish state, but later started asking for more rights and autonomy for Kurds in Turkey. The group is based in northern Iraq and is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.

The group’s jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, will guide the process, according to the statement. Ocalan has been in prison since 1999. He had called for the group to dissolve earlier this year.

It is unclear whether Turkey accepts Ocalan’s continued role in the peace process. The government has not shared details on how disarmament will take place.

Kurds make up around 20% of Turkey’s 86 million people. Much of the conflict has taken place in the country’s southeast, where the economy has also been affected by the fighting.

Fahrettin Altun, spokesperson for the Turkish presidency, told Reuters, “Turkey will take necessary steps to ensure progress toward a terror-free country.”

The PKK said it had “completed its historic mission,” adding that the armed struggle had brought attention to Kurdish demands and moved the issue toward “democratic politics.”

The decision may also affect the wider region. It is not yet clear what impact it will have on Kurdish forces in Syria, especially the YPG militia, which is supported by the United States but seen by Turkey as linked to the PKK.

The YPG has said in the past that Ocalan’s messages do not apply to them, and it did not immediately respond to the new statement.

The pro-Kurdish DEM Party in Turkey supported Ocalan’s peace message. Tayip Temel, a deputy leader of the party, told Reuters the move was important. “It will also require a change in how the state sees the Kurdish question,” he said.

The timing of the decision comes during political tension in Turkey. Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a major opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was jailed in March on corruption charges. This led to the biggest protests in the country in years.

Erdogan has tried before to reach peace with the PKK. Analysts told that he may now focus on the political benefits of ending the conflict, especially as his current term ends in 2028.

In Diyarbakir, a city in Turkey’s southeast, some residents said they hoped this move would stop the violence. “It is really important that people do not die anymore, that the Kurdish problem is solved in a more democratic way,” said Hasan Huseyin Ceylan, 45.

Past peace efforts have failed, including a ceasefire from 2013 to 2015. But the PKK’s latest step may reopen the door for talks.

The Turkish lira stayed stable at 38.765 to the dollar after the announcement, and the stock market in Istanbul rose by 3%, according to Reuters.

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