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The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is an extremist group that has been in conflict with the Turkish province for over 40 years and said it will dissolve in a historic move with major political and security implications for the region.
The PKK has decided to “end the armed struggle,” according to Kurdish news agency ANF, which released its closing statement for the PKK parliament held in Iraq last week on Monday. The group declared a ceasefire on March 1st.
Designated as a terrorist group by Türkiye and its western allies, the PKK is linked to Syrian US-backed Kurdish forces. That decision could ease tensions between Türkiye and the US over the power shearing arrangement in Syria.
Since the PKK began its rebellion in 1984, more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
If successful, the peace process could boost domestic political support for Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan as it seeks to extend the two-year rule for a different term, beyond the scheduled presidential election in 2028.
The Parliament said the PKK struggle had declared “the Kurdish issues have been brought to the point of resolution through democratic politics and thus completed its historical mission.”
AK party spokesman Ömer Hymerk called the move “a critical step in terms of the goal of a “terror-free turkey.” He added to a Post on social media “When terrorism is completely over, the door to a new era opens.”
The process gained momentum in February when PKK leader Abdullah Abdulla Akaran, who has been jailed on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged the group to formally decide to formally disband.
The peace process has been supported domestically by far-right nationalist politician Debrett Buffseli, an intimate ally of Erdogan.
The negotiations have since taken place behind a secret wall, and it remains unclear how the process will progress, including how the weapons are disposed of, monitoring the process, the fate of PKK militants, and whether group leaders will be given sanctuary in third countries.
No concessions the PKK will make in exchange for its decision to disband has been made public. There is also a broader question as to what political rights the Turkish Kurds, with political rights that make up almost five-fifths of Turkey’s 90 million population, will gain.
Turkey’s third largest pro-Kurdish DEM Party calls for recognition of Kurdish identity and culture in the country’s constitution, Kurdish education in schools, and the delegation of power to local governments in the Turkish Kurdish majority.
Several previous peace efforts ended with failure. More recently, in 2015, the decision comes amid major changes in both Türkiye and the wider region.
The Turkish forces were leading effective drone-led counter rebellions, which increasingly pushed extremists from the country into Iraq and Syria. The overthrow of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has since questioned the status of the US-backed Kurdish chain of forces who fought him in northeastern Syria.
