Ankara calls on Kurds in Turkiye, Syria, Iraq to disarm
3 Min Read
Turkiye is calling on all Kurds in the region, including the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, to lay down their weapons.
-
Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Recep Tayyip addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, March 24, 2024 (AP)
The spokesperson for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Ömer Çelik, stated on Friday that all Kurdish militants in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria—including the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—should lay down their arms in response to Abdullah Öcalan’s recent call for disarmament.
Çelik’s remarks came after SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said on Thursday that Öcalan’s message applied solely to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and had no connection to Syria.
On Thursday, PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan called the group to disband and disarm on February 27, urging them in a letter read by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party to convene a congress to formalize this decision.
"As in the case with any modern community and party whose existence has not been abolished by force, would voluntarily do, convene your congress and make a decision; all groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself," stated the leader of the PKK.
The call to dissolve the PKK could weaken the political leverage of Kurdish groups in Turkiye and Syria, as it formed a significant strategic force in the region at a time when Ankara has been intensifying its military operations on Kurdish groups in Syria and Turkey.
SDF welcomes call
The leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) welcomed the call by the imprisoned Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan for the Kurdish militant and political group to lay down its arms and disband on Thursday.
Mazloum Abdi, head of the armed wing of Syria's Kurdish armed groups, said during a video conference that they see this initiative as positive because it is centered on peace in the region, adding that they have "nothing to do with Abdullah Öcalan's call."
Tensions between SDF and Turkiye escalated further when Turkish drones targeted their positions in al-Hasakah on February 26, as Ankara vows to continue military operations against the Syria Democratic Forces, which it deems an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Turkish police arrested 282 members of the PKK in police raids over five days, according to an Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya statement on February 18, as Ankara intensifies its efforts to remove elected pro-Kurdish mayors and a crackdown on the Kurdish party aiming to end the 40-year-long conflict between the two sides.
