Kurdish PKK disbands, ending 40-year insurgency in Turkey
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The news: The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced that it will disband after 40 years in an historic move that is set to hold significant security implications for the region.
The numbers: Over 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984.
The context: Pro-Kurdish news agency, ANF, published the closing statement from the PKK congress held last week in Iraq, which stated that the PKK has “fulfilled its historical mission.” It said that the congress resolved to dissolve the organisation and “end the armed struggle.”
The PKK statement said that the congress determined that the PKK’s struggle has “dismantled the policies of denial and annihilation imposed on our people, bringing the Kurdish issue to a point where it can be resolved through democratic politics.”
The PKK is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and the US, and has fought a long-term war with the Turkish state since its formation. Initially the group had fought for an independent Kurdish state and later pushed for stronger rights for the tens of millions of Kurds spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The broader question as to what political rights Turkey’s Kurds will gain remains.
The decision to disband follows the group’s ceasefire declaration on in March, as part of recently launched talks held between Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed Kurdish militant leader and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s nationalist coalition. In February Öcalan urged the group to convene and disband.
If the peace process is successful it could help to support political support for Erdoğan in his efforts to continue his rule into another term from the 2028 presidential elections.
