The outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK announced a ceasefire with Turkey on Saturday, March 1, 2025, after a landmark call by detained PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan for the group to disband.
It was the first reaction from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) following Öcalan’s call this week for the party to disband and lay down its arms after fighting the Turkish state for more than 40 years.
“In order to pave the way for the implementation of Leader Apo’s call for peace and a democratic society, we declare a ceasefire effective today,” the PKK’s executive committee said, referring to Öcalan and quoted by the PKK-backed ANF news agency.
After several meetings with Öcalan in his island prison, the pro-Kurdish DEM party on Thursday delivered his call for the PKK to lay down its arms and convene a congress to declare the organization’s dissolution. The PKK said on Saturday it was ready to convene a congress as Öcalan wants, but “for this to happen, an appropriate security environment must be created” and Öcalan “must personally lead and guide it for the success of the congress.”
“We agree with the content of the call as it is, and we say that we will follow and implement it,” the committee, based in northern Iraq, said. “None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked,” it added.
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has been waging a war since 1984
in an effort to create a homeland for the Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of Turkey’s 85 million people. Since Öcalan was arrested in 1999, there have been various attempts to end the bloodshed that has claimed over 40,000 lives.
Photo: Delegation of DEM party with PKK Organization Leader Abdullah Öcalan.
We acknowledge The European Times for the information.
