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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/16/kurdish-pkk-group-to-disband-ending-40-year-armed-struggle-with-turkiye/">peoplesdispatch.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Kurdish PKK group to disband, ending 40-year armed struggle with Türkiye</h1>
<a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/16/kurdish-pkk-group-to-disband-ending-40-year-armed-struggle-with-turkiye/">May 16, 2025</a> by <a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/16/kurdish-pkk-group-to-disband-ending-40-year-armed-struggle-with-turkiye/"></a><a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/author/aseel-saleh/">Aseel Saleh</a>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><img src="cid:ii_mar1mpmd0" alt="Kurdish_PKK_Guerillas_23131489879.jpeg" width="473" height="266"><br><p><font size="1">Kurdish PKK member. Photo: Wikimedia Commons </font> </p><div>
<p><span>The Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK) announced Monday, May 12,
that it decided to disband and end its armed struggle with the Turkish
state, which lasted over 40 years.</span></p>
<p><span>The announcement comes a couple of months after PKK\u2019s jailed leader, </span><a href="https://apnews.com/article/turkey-pkk-ocalan-peace-talks-68decd55c35fa537f04b117bc9736128"><span>Abdullah Öcalan</span></a><span>, issued a statement from prison titled </span><span>\u201cCall for Peace and a Democratic Society,\u201d in which he </span><span>asked the group to lay down arms and dissolve itself.</span></p>
<p><span>According to </span><i><span>The Firat News Agency</span></i><span>
(ANF), affiliated with the PKK, Öcalan took a \u201chistoric step\u201d with his
call, as he \u201cplaced change and transformation\u201d at the forefront of the
group\u2019s agenda.</span></p>
<p><span>The PKK was founded by Abdullah Öcalan in Türkiye in 1978, with
the mission of creating an independent state for the Kurdish
population. The party\u2019s objective shifted at a later stage to seeking
autonomy and greater rights for the Kurds in Türkiye.</span></p>
<p><span>The Kurds, whose population is estimated to be </span><a href="https://oxfordpoliticalreview.com/2024/09/05/censor-the-language-curtail-the-people-an-analysis-of-kurdish-linguistic-erasure-across-the-nation-states-on-kurdish-land/"><span>between 30 and 45 million</span></a><span>, have for centuries inhabited large parts of </span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kurdistan-Workers-Party"><span>different countries in West Asia</span></a><span>, including eastern Türkiye, northern Iraq, and western Iran, in addition to smaller parts of northern Syria and Armenia.</span></p>
<p><span>However, their aspirations for self-determination have been
confronted with persecution by the governments of their countries, which
pressured them to accept integration.</span></p>
<p><span>In 1984, the PKK began the armed struggle against the Turkish
state, which continued for four decades and claimed 40,000 lives,
according to media reports. The group, which was designated as a
\u201cterrorist organization\u201d by Türkiye, the European Union (EU), and the
US, </span><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/5/14/what-does-the-pkks-disarming-mean-for-its-regional-allies"><span>operated</span></a><span> in Türkiye and northern Iraq, with allies operating in areas inhabited by Kurds in Syria and Iran.</span></p>
<h3><b>Abdullah Öcalan from armed struggle to reconciliation</b></h3>
<p><span>Abdullah Öcalan </span><a href="https://www.turkiyetoday.com/turkiye/pkk-ringleader-abdullah-ocalan-why-hes-known-as-baby-killer-in-turkiye-124755"><span>fled to Syria</span></a><span> in 1979, alongside a number of PKK members, in the wake of political unrest in Türkiye, one year after the party was founded.</span></p>
<p><span>During the 1980s and 1990s, then-Syrian president Hafez
al-Assad allowed the PKK to establish bases and training camps in Syria
and the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, which was under Syria\u2019s control at the
time.</span></p>
<p><span>Due to geopolitical pressures, Hafez al-Assad asked Öcalan to leave Syria in 1998. One year later, </span><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241231-ocalan-pkk-chief-held-in-solitary-on-turkish-prison-island"><span>the PKK leader was arrested</span></a><span> by an operative of the Turkish security forces in Kenya.</span></p>
<p><span>Öcalan </span><span>was initially sentenced to death on charges of \u201ctreason and separatism\u201d, but the sentence changed to life in prison after</span><span> Türkiye </span><span>abolished capital punishment in 2004 in a bid to become a member of the EU.</span></p>
<p><span>Despite his imprisonment, </span><span>Öcalan continued to wield considerable clout over his party, and he is still seen by the Kurds as a popular influential figure.</span></p>
<h3><b>Regional factors that led to the dissolution decision</b></h3>
<p><span>Analysts suggest that recent geopolitical developments
contributed to PKK\u2019s decision to disband and disarm. After former Syrian
president <a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/12/11/the-fall-of-the-assad-government-in-syria/">Bashar </a></span><span>al-Assad was overthrown</span><span> in December 2024, </span><i><span>Hay\u2019at Tahrir al-Sham</span></i><span>
(HTS), which is backed by Türkiye, took over the country. This, in
turn, made PKK more vulnerable to attacks by the Turkish forces and
their allies in Syria.</span></p>
<p><span>The situation became harder for the party after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) signed an </span><a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/03/12/interim-syrian-government-integrates-us-backed-kurdish-forces-in-the-wake-of-fresh-sectarian-violence/"><span>agreement</span></a><span> with Syria\u2019s HTS-led interim government to integrate into the state\u2019s institutions.</span></p>
<p><span>SDF maintains that it is independent from the PKK despite being </span><span>dominated by the Kurdish People\u2019s Protection Units (YPG), which </span><span>Türkiye </span><span>views as a PKK offshoot.</span></p>
<p><span>The last few months also saw an advancement in the relations between </span><span>Türkiye and Iraq, particularly in terms of security cooperation. In a meeting between </span><span>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan and Iraqi Prime Minister </span><a href="https://syriacpress.com/blog/2025/05/09/turkey-and-iraq-deepen-ties-with-landmark-agreements-and-regional-dialogue/"><span>Mohammed Shia al-Sudani</span></a><span> in </span><span>Türkiye\u2019s capital, </span><span>Ankara,
earlier in May, Al-Sudani reiterated \u201cIraq\u2019s firm stance\u201d against
allowing its territory to be used in the conflict between </span><span>Türkiye and PKK</span><span>.</span></p>
<p><span>In October, 2024, the leader of Türkiye\u2019s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), </span><a href="https://www.euronews.com/2024/10/22/hardline-turkish-politician-offers-ocalan-parole-if-pkk-is-disbanded"><span>Devlet Bahçeli</span></a><span>, suggested in a statement that Öcalan could be granted parole if \u201che renounces violence\u201d and disbands the group.</span></p>
<p><span>MHP is perceived as an ally of Erdo\u011fan, who is reportedly
seeking support from Türkiye\u2019s pro-Kurdish political party in parliament
to enact a new constitution that could allow him to run for another
presidential term.</span></p>
<p><span>Garnering such support has become more possible with PKK\u2019s dissolution decision, </span><a href="https://www.turkishminute.com/2025/05/13/erdogan-welcomes-pkk-dissolution-as-key-step-toward-peace/"><span>which Erdo\u011fan welcomed</span></a><span> on Monday, calling it \u201can important decision for securing peace and fraternity\u201d in Türkiye. </span></p>
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