PKK announces ceasefire with Turkiye, ending four-decade insurgency

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
Today 12:39
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In its statement, the PKK expressed hope that Ankara would release leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been held in near-total isolation since 1999, so he could oversee the disarmament process.

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An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on February 27, 2025 (AFP)

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced an immediate ceasefire on Saturday, according to a news agency affiliated with the group, following a call by its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, for disarmament.

The move marks a significant step toward ending the PKK’s four-decade-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

On Thursday, Ocalan urged the PKK to lay down its arms and dissolve, a call that has received support from both President Tayyip Erdogan's government and the opposition pro-Kurdish DEM party.

If successful, the initiative could have far-reaching regional implications while bringing an end to a conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives since the PKK—now headquartered in the mountains of northern Iraq—launched its armed campaign in 1984.

In its statement, the group expressed hope that Ankara would release Ocalan, who has been held in near-total isolation since 1999, so he could oversee the disarmament process.

It also stressed that establishing the necessary political and democratic conditions would be crucial for the initiative’s success.

"In order to pave the way for the implementation of leader Apo's call for peace and democratic society, we are declaring a ceasefire effective from today," the PKK stated, according to the Firat news agency.

"We, as the PKK, fully agree with the content of the call and state that, from our front, we will heed the necessities of the call and implement it," the group affirmed.

"Beyond this, issues like laying down arms being put into practice can only be realised under the practical leadership of Leader Apo," it pointed out, using Ocalan's nickname, adding it would halt all hostilities immediately unless attacked.

On Friday, the DEM party urged the Turkish government to take concrete steps toward democratization, emphasizing that its response would be decisive. The government, however, reiterated that it would not engage in negotiations with the PKK and insisted that all Kurdish armed groups, including those operating in Iraq and Syria, must disarm.

While welcoming Ocalan’s appeal, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—which Ankara considers an extension of the PKK—clarified that the call did not apply to them.

Turkiye has repeatedly urged the SDF’s armed wing to disarm since the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last year, warning that failure to do so would result in military action.

Ocalan’s appeal, which was triggered by an unexpected proposal in October from an ultra-nationalist ally of Erdogan, has been welcomed by the United States, the European Union, and other Western allies, as well as by Turkiye’s neighbors, Iraq and Iran.

Since Ocalan's imprisonment, multiple efforts have been made to negotiate an end to the conflict. The most recent peace talks collapsed in 2015, and no further engagement took place until October 2023.