Ankara (TDI): The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced on Monday its dissolution and the end of more than four decades of armed struggle against the Turkish state.
“The 12th Congress of PKK has decided to disband the group’s organizational structure and end its armed struggle,” PKK said in a statement after convening its congress last week.
The PKK’s announcement to disband itself heeds a call by its founder Abdullah Ocalan, imprisoned on an island off Istanbul since 1999, who urged his fighters in February to disarm and dissolve.
In a letter, Ocalan urged the PKK to formalize the decision in the congress.
After few days, the group’s leadership accepted Ocalan’s call by announcing a ceasefire.
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In a speech on Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted that news about a dissolution could come at any moment, saying that his government was resolute to the nation from the “scourge of terrorism”.
“We are moving forward with firm measures on the path to the goal of a terror-free Türkiye,” he said.
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and the European Union, has waged an insurgency since 1984.
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Its original aim was to establish a homeland for Kurds, who make up about 20% of 85 million population of Türkiye.
Since Ocalan was imprisoned, there have been multiple attempts to end the bloodshed, which has cost over 40,000 lives.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
