Particle.news
Download on the App Store
39 ARTICLES
·
2d ago

PKK Disbands After Four Decades of Armed Conflict with Turkey

The Kurdish militant group announces its dissolution and disarmament, following a call by jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan and a congress decision to end its insurgency.

FILE - A group of armed Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) enter northern Iraq in the Heror area, northeast of Dahuk, 260 miles (430 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, May 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Ceerwan Aziz, File)
Image
PKK supporters wave flags of founder Abdullah Ocalan
Hatice Levent holds a picture of her daughter Fadime who is believed to have joined the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as families of young people who they say were recruited by the PKK gather outside the local office of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, as PKK disbands and ends 40-year Turkey insurgency, in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar

Overview

  • The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) declared on May 12, 2025, that it is dissolving its organizational structure and ending its armed struggle against Turkey.
  • This decision follows a February appeal by the group's imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, and a party congress held in northern Iraq from May 5 to 7.
  • The announcement marks the culmination of a peace initiative with Turkey, which included a unilateral ceasefire declared on March 1, 2025.
  • Turkey's ruling AKP welcomed the move as a significant step toward achieving a 'terror-free Turkey' and pledged to closely monitor the disbandment process.
  • The conflict, which began in 1984, has claimed over 40,000 lives and significantly impacted regional security in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria.