{"id":1535612,"date":"2025-05-12T17:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T21:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1535612"},"modified":"2025-05-12T17:45:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T21:45:00","slug":"kurdish-militant-group-pkk-disbands-after-40-year-conflict-with-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/kurdish-militant-group-pkk-disbands-after-40-year-conflict-with-turkey\/1535612\/","title":{"rendered":"Kurdish Militant Group PKK Disbands After 40-Year Conflict With Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kurdish Militant Group PKK Disbands After 40-Year Conflict With Turkey<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Via Middle East Eye<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)\u00a0on Monday announced its decision to disband and end its armed struggle, following a call in February by its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.<\/p>\n

The Kurdish armed group, which has waged a war against\u00a0Turkey\u00a0since the 1980s<\/strong>, said\u00a0that it had completed its “historic mission” <\/strong>and brought the Kurdish question to a point where it\u00a0could be resolved through democratic politics.<\/p>\n

Flags showing the face of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), via AFP.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The group said Ocalan should be allowed to manage the disbandment process. It also requested solid and integrated legal guarantees to ensure the success of their decision.<\/p>\n

“At this stage, it is important for the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to play its role with historical responsibility,” the PKK’s statement said.<\/p>\n

“Similarly, we call on all political parties represented in the parliament, especially the government and the main opposition party, and civil society organizations to take responsibility and participate in the peace and democratic society process.”<\/p>\n

This historic announcement came after a 40-year-long conflict between Turkey and the PKK. The group initially sought Kurdish independence but later shifted its goal to autonomy and greater rights for Kurds within Turkey<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Over the decades, various governments, including that of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, attempted to resolve the issue through legal settlements, but these efforts were unsuccessful, and tens of thousands of lives were lost<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Since 2016, Ankara has managed to corner the PKK in northern Iraq by employing sophisticated technology such as drones and signal intelligence capabilities, as well as establishing dozens of military outposts that restrict the group’s freedom of movement and infiltration across the border.<\/p>\n

A source familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye<\/em> that the PKK’s announcement was initially set to be released on Friday, as the government had made some preparations, but internal PKK bureaucracy delayed its release.<\/p>\n

Ocalan, 76,\u00a0stated<\/a>\u00a0in his February address that the armed struggle was a product of a bygone era and that Kurds must seek their rights by participating in democratic societies within nation states.<\/p>\n

Following his call, the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-armed group led by PKK offshoots in Syria, then\u00a0struck<\/a>\u00a0a deal with the new Damascus government<\/strong>, promising to return control of state institutions to the central administration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Ocalan\u2019s call came after Turkish nationalist leader and key Erdogan ally, Devlet Bahceli,\u00a0asked<\/a>\u00a0the PKK leader last year to disband his group, potentially in return for being released into house arrest.<\/p>\n

Talks with Kurdish DEM party<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since then, Bahceli has promised greater democratization in Turkey through phone conversations with the pro-Kurdish DEM Party. The government\u2019s talks with Kurdish opposition groups have also divided the country\u2019s opposition, as they come when\u00a0popular Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been jailed and anti-Erdogan protests have been cracked down on.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong live the brotherhood of the Turkish and Kurdish peoples and a fully independent Turkey!\u201d
\nNot once a “Long live Kurds” or “Long live Kurdistan.”<\/p>\n

Here’s the full statement of the PKK.https:\/\/t.co\/4JTFauBoS5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Polla Garmiany \u2600\ufe0f (@PollaGarmiany) May 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Ankara insiders now expect the PKK and Turkish intelligence to announce specifics on how the group will return its arms and formally disband. Turkish officials, speaking on condition of anonymity earlier this year, told MEE that legal studies were underway to allow PKK members who have not participated in armed attacks to be welcomed back to the country.<\/p>\n

Some officials speculate that the PKK leadership will either remain in northern Iraq, potentially in Sulaymaniyah, or be allowed to relocate to Europe in exile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The DEM Party also expects the government to release thousands of its members imprisoned on non-violent charges and to end the practice of unseating its popularly elected mayors. A key demand is the release of Selahattin Demirtas, a Kurdish-Turkish politician who has been incarcerated since 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nMon, 05\/12\/2025 – 13:45<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/kurdish-militant-group-pkk-disbands-after-40-year-conflict-turkey<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kurdish Militant Group PKK Disbands After 40-Year Conflict With Turkey Via Middle East Eye The\u00a0Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)\u00a0on Monday announced its decision to disband and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1535613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1535612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1535612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1535613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1535612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1535612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1535612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}