Kurdish group PKK declares ceasefire with Turkey

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), outlawed by the Turkish government, has announced a ceasefire with Turkey. This follows a call from the organization's imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, for the movement to lay down its arms and disband. The move aims to end the four-decade-long armed conflict in southeastern Turkey, which has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

In a statement released on Saturday, the PKK said it wants Turkey to release Öcalan, who has been held in solitary confinement since 1999, so that he can lead the disarmament process. Öcalan's call earlier this week aims to end the forty-year armed struggle in southeastern Turkey and pave the way for a lasting resolution.

The PKK has been waging an insurgency since 1984, initially seeking an independent homeland for the Kurds, who make up about 20% of Turkey's 85 million population. The group later abandoned its separatist goals and is now pushing for greater autonomy and more Kurdish rights. Turkey, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States have all designated the organization as a terrorist group.

According to ANF, a news agency close to the PKK, the PKK Executive Council said in a statement on Saturday: "In order to pave the way for implementing Leader Öcalan's call for peace and a democratic society, we are declaring a ceasefire effective from today." The statement also added, "Unless attacked, none of our forces will carry out armed action."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said later on Saturday that military operations against the PKK would resume if "(the organization's) given promises are not kept" and the disarmament process stalls. The PKK stated that Öcalan's prison conditions must be eased, adding that he "must be able to live and work in physical freedom and be able to establish unhindered relations with anyone he wants, including his friends."

In a letter read out in Kurdish and Turkish by Peoples' Democratic Party members Ahmet Türk and Pervin Buldan, Öcalan called on PKK members to disarm. He said, "All groups must lay down their arms, the PKK must dissolve itself," adding that the formation of his movement was primarily because "the channels of democratic politics were closed."

The development has been widely welcomed by Kurdish leaders. Local reports indicate that thousands of people gathered in southeastern cities with large Kurdish populations, such as Diyarbakır and Van, to watch the statement on large screens. However, significant questions remain among the Kurdish and Turkish public about what steps might follow, and not everyone is convinced that the situation will change.

Last week, senior PKK commander Duran Kalkan said that Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was not seeking a solution, but wanted to "take over, destroy, and annihilate." In recent years, pro-Kurdish politicians in Turkey have been hit by a wave of arrests and convictions. Around 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK launched its insurgency. A two-and-a-half-year ceasefire broke down between 2015 and 2017, leading to a surge in violence in southeastern Turkey. Most recently, in October, the PKK claimed responsibility for an attack near the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) near Ankara, which killed five people.