PKK disbands after more than 40-year insurgency against Turkish state

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) officially announced on Monday its dissolution, ending more than four decades of armed insurgency against the Turkish state.

"The 12th PKK Congress has decided to dissolve the PKK's organisational structure and end its method of armed struggle," the group announced in a statement after holding its congress last week.

It comes after a historic call made in February by the PKK’s jailed founder, Abdullah Ocalan, who urged the group to lay down its arms and disband. Ocalan has been in detention on an island off Istanbul since 1999.

In a letter, Ocalan had urged the PKK to hold a congress to formalise the decision. Days later, the group’s leadership accepted Ocalan’s call, declaring a ceasefire.

An agency close to the PKK said Monday the group had accomplished its "historic mission," noting that the PKK "believes that Kurdish political parties will assume their responsibilities to develop Kurdish democracy and ensure the formation of a democratic Kurdish nation".

The group was quoted as stressing that Turkish-Kurdish relations need to be redefined, without revealing further details.

Turkey will take necessary measures to ensure smooth progress toward a "terror-free" country after the PKK's announcement to disband, the presidency's communications director said on Monday.

In a post on X, Fahrettin Altun, the director, said the process is not short-termed and shallow and all steps will be taken in a sensitive and transparent way.

In a speech on Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted that news about a dissolution could come at any moment, adding that his government was determined to "save our country from the scourge of terrorism".

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency since 1984.

Its original aim was to carve out a homeland for Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of Turkey's 85 million people.

Since Ocalan was jailed, there have been various attempts to end the bloodshed, which has cost more than 40,000 lives.

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Ömer Çelik, spokesperson for Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), said the PKK's decision will be "a decisive turning point," emphasising that Turkish government institutions will closely monitor the process on the ground and keep Erdogan up to date.

The pro-Kurdish DEM Party took credit, saying their efforts paved the way for this historic move.

"I hope the congress will be beneficial for Turkey. There is no longer any justification for not building a democratic Turkey that that will resolve the Kurdish issue. I hope we can crown this process with peace," a brief statement by DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan said.

Pervin Buldan, a DEM parliamentarian who visited Ocalan in prison multiple times to mediate efforts that led to his February call, also welcomed PKK's decision, saying a new phase had begun.

The DEM Party plans to hold a meeting of its central committee on Monday, and a statement is expected to be issued containing more details about the upcoming phase, including the mechanism for disarmament, the fate of militants, and other steps related to the party's dissolution and the handing over of its weapons.

The president of Iraq's Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, welcomed on Monday PKK's move to disband, saying it would strengthen regional stability.

The PKK decision "demonstrates political maturity and paves the way for a dialogue that promotes coexistence and stability in Turkey and the region", Barzani said in a statement.

It "lays the foundation for a lasting peace that would end decades of violence, pain and suffering", he added.

He said that the autonomous Kurdistan region is ready to support efforts to guarantee the success of "this historic opportunity".

The Barzani family, who leads the region's ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), is a crucial powerbroker in Kurdish affairs and has close ties with Turkey.

(Agencies, The New Arab)