PKK declares ceasefire with Turkey after Ocalan's call

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has stated that it will respond to the call of its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, to lay down arms and end its four-decade-long war with Turkey. This announcement marks a potential turning point in the conflict resolution process, drawing significant attention from all parties involved and potentially paving the way for lasting peace.

The organization's leadership issued a statement on the affiliated Firat News Agency (ANF), saying it would follow Öcalan's orders. Öcalan issued the order from İmralı Island prison on Thursday, which included a call for the organization to disband. The PKK's Executive Council stated that "With the relevant call, a new historical process will begin in Kurdistan and the Middle East," signaling a willingness to engage in dialogue and find common ground.

However, the organization insists that a party congress must first be convened, with Öcalan himself participating in person, before responding to the call to disband the organization. The statement emphasized, "In order to achieve this goal, a suitable security environment must be created, and Leader Apo must personally guide and lead the congress to success," using Öcalan's alias. The statement also added: "Until now, we have led this war, which contains all the mistakes and shortcomings. However, only Leader Apo can take over the leadership of the era of peace and democratic society," highlighting Öcalan's pivotal role in shaping the future.

The organization also stated that Öcalan's prison conditions must be improved, and that he "must be able to live and work in personal freedom and be able to establish unimpeded relations with anyone he wants to establish relations with." Since 1984, the PKK has been waging a guerrilla war against Turkey, initially seeking to establish an independent Kurdish state, later shifting its demands to Kurdish autonomy, illustrating the evolving nature of their goals.

Since Öcalan's imprisonment in 1999, there have been numerous attempts to end the conflict, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives. However, all efforts have ended in failure. On Thursday, Öcalan's message was publicly read out by the so-called İmralı delegation, which consisted of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) politicians who visited him on İmralı Island on Thursday. The delegation included a lawyer representing Öcalan and a DEM politician believed to be closely associated with the PKK headquarters in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq. The statement was broadcast live on large screens in the eastern cities of Van and Diyarbakir, demonstrating its significance.

Some PKK-affiliated organizations, such as the Syrian People's Protection Units (YPG), have suggested that Öcalan's call does not apply to them. Aliza Marcus, author of *Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence*, told *Middle East Eye* that the leadership in Qandil has become increasingly independent since Öcalan's imprisonment. "Öcalan's call sets the framework for what the PKK needs to do next – but whether the organization takes the next step of convening a congress will depend on whether they think they're getting what they need," she said. "We don't know what backroom deals may have been made beforehand, but we do know that the PKK leadership in \[Iraq] is very willing to put its own conditions and interpretations on Öcalan's statements," indicating potential challenges in implementing the call for disarmament.