The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decadeslong insurgency against the Turkish state, announced Monday that it will disband and formally end its armed struggle, according to the Firat news agency, which is closely aligned with the group.
In a statement reportedly issued at the conclusion of the PKK’s 12th Congress held last week in northern Iraq, the group declared: “The PKK has completed its historic mission.” It said the dissolution of the group’s organizational structure would be overseen by its jailed founder and ideological leader, Abdullah Öcalan, also known as “Apo.”
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
More than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party welcomed the news as “an important step toward a terror-free Turkey,” party spokesperson Ömer Çelik said. The Turkish Foreign Ministry has yet to issue a formal statement but had reportedly anticipated such a move.
The PKK’s decision follows a call issued in February by Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999, urging the group to dismantle its armed wing. While previous ceasefires have collapsed—including a high-profile truce from 2013 to 2015—this is the first time the PKK has publicly committed to ending its insurgency in full.