An outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) extremist groups declared an immediate ceasefire on Saturday, and a nearby news agency said it had taken a major step towards ending a 40-year rebellion against the Turkish state to disarmament calls by imprisoned leader Abdullah Okaran.
On Thursday, Okaran called on the PKK to abandon his arms and break up. This is a move that President Tayyip Erdogan’s government and the pro-Kurdish party, the opposition, have expressed support.
If successful, the move could have a wide range of impact on the region, but it ended a conflict that killed more than 40,000 people since the now-based PKK, based in the mountains of Northern Iraq, began an armed rebellion in 1984.
It could give Erdogan a domestic boost and a historic opportunity to bring peace and development to Southeast Turkey, where the conflict killed thousands and severely damaged the economy.
The group said it hopes that Okaran, which has been almost completely isolated since 1999, can lead the disarmament process as more freedom, adding that it needs to establish the political and democratic conditions it needs to succeed.
“As the PKK, we fully agree with the contents of the call, and from our frontlines, we will listen to the essentials of the call and implement it,” the group said in a statement.
“Beyond this, problems like laying your arms can only be realized under the actual leadership of the leader’s appointment,” the group added that using the nickname of the ocalan, will immediately halt all hostilities unless attacked.
The PKK, designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and its western allies, said it was ready to convene the parliament as Okaran asked, but said it needed to establish the necessary safety conditions for him to “run with personal instructions.”
“As the PKK, we fully agree with the contents of the call, and from our frontlines, we will listen to the essentials of the call and implement it,” the group said in a statement.
“Beyond this, problems like laying your arms can only be realized under the actual leadership of the leader’s appointment,” the group added that using the nickname of the ocalan, will immediately halt all hostilities unless attacked.
The PKK, designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and its western allies, said it was ready to convene the parliament as Okaran asked, but said it needed to establish the necessary safety conditions for him to “run with personal instructions.”
It is unclear whether Ankara will address these issues. Justice Minister Irmaz Tank told broadcaster CNN Tak on Friday that there was no discussion and there was no negotiation.
Analysts said the Erdogan faction, which has repeatedly tried to end the conflict, is focusing on the potential domestic political dividends that peace could bring, so that it appears to extend two years beyond 2028 when its term expires.
Ending the rebellion will remove the constant flashpoint of Northern Iraq, where Kurds are plentiful, while promoting efforts by the new Syrian regime to assert greater shaking in northern Iraq, which is dominated by Kurdish forces.
Okaran’s appeal, prompted by surprise proposals from Erdogan’s ultranationalist allies in October, was welcomed by the US, the European Union, and other western allies, as well as Turkish neighbours Iraq and Iran.
Turkey sought to capitalize on the geopolitical development of the region following the collapse of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad following an 11-year civil war.
Damascus’s new Islamic government has established good ties with Turkey and continues to support Syrian Arab fighters in conflict with Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria.
Since Assad’s collapse, Turkey has repeatedly called for disarming US-ally ally Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and YPG militias, warning of otherwise military action. However, SDF said that Ocalan’s call was positive, but it did not apply to them.