PKK declares ceasefire in Turkey ending years of bloodshed
The PKK militia has called an ceasefire which is se to bring an end to its 40 year fight with Turkish state after its jailed leader called for disarmament.
Abdullah Ocalan told his militant group last Thursday to lay down its arms and dissolve as part of a new bid to end the conflict with Turkey’s government that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
In a message from his prison on an island off Istanbul, Ocalan said that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, should hold a congress and decide to disband.
“Convene your congress and make a decision. All groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself,” Ocalan said, according to a message that was read in Kurdish and Turkish by pro-Kurdish party politicians who visited Ocalan earlier in the day.
And now the PKK said in a statement it hoped Ankara would release Ocalan so he can lead a process of disarmament, adding that the necessary political and democratic conditions need to be put in place.
“We declare a ceasefire effective today to pave the way for the implementation of Leader Apo’s Call for Peace and Democratic Society. None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked, it said. The PKK said Ocalan’s statement indicated that a “new historical process has begun in Kurdistan and the Middle East.” Kurdistan refers to the parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran inhabited by Kurds.
While saying that it would “comply with and implement the requirements of the call from our own side,” the PKK emphasized that “democratic politics and legal grounds must also be suitable for success.”
Ocalan’s momentous announcement from jail was part of a new effort for peace between the group and the Turkish state, which was initiated in October by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli. The far-right politician suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if his group renounces violence and disbands.
The 75 year old has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali, off Istanbul, since 1999, after being convicted of treason. Despite his incarceration, he continues to wield significant influence over the PKK. The group’s leadership is widely expected to heed any call Ocalan makes, although some factions within the group could resist, analysts say.
The peace effort comes at a time when Erdogan may need support from the DEM party in parliament to enact a new constitution that could allow him to stay in power. The Turkish Constitution doesn’t allow Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003 as prime minister and later as president, to run for office again unless an early election is called — something that would also require the support of the pro-Kurdish party.
The DEM party has long pressed for greater democracy in Turkey, rights for the country’s Kurdish population and to improve conditions for the imprisoned Ocalan. Turkish officials haven’t said what Kurdish groups may have been promised as part of the peace effort.
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