Outlawed group PKK declares a ceasefire with Turkey

PKK has declared a ceasefire with Türkiye after its jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, urged the movement to lay down its arms and dissolve itself.

In a statement on Saturday, the PKK expressed hope that Turkey would release Öcalan, who has been held in solitary confinement since 1999, so he can lead the disarmament process.

The announcement follows Öcalan’s recent call to end four decades of armed conflict in southeastern Turkey, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Öcalan highlighted the importance of paving the way for democratic politics and Kurdish-Turkish brotherhood.

Öcalan—affectionately known as 'Apo' by Kurdish nationalists—met with MPs from a pro-Kurdish party this week on İmralı, the island in the Sea of Marmara, southwest of Istanbul, where he is imprisoned.

"In order to pave the way for the implementation of leader Apo's call for peace and democratic society, we are declaring a ceasefire effective from today," the PKK executive committee said in a statement on Saturday, quoted by the pro-PKK ANF news agency.

"None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked," it added.

The group stated that Öcalan’s call should not be seen as an end, but rather as 'the beginning of an era of peace and democratic society,' emphasizing that only Leader Apo can assume the leadership of this new process.

"Leader Apo must personally oversee and lead the process to ensure its successful implementation, paving the way for Turkey and the Middle East's democratization through a democratic resolution of the Kurdish question," - the statement reads.

The PKK - which stands for the Kurdistan Workers' Party - said Ocalan "must be granted with conditions to live and work in physical freedom and be able to establish unhindered relationships with anyone he wants, including his friends". 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli for initiating the process and described Öcalan’s call as a historic opportunity. 'This is a historic opportunity to dismantle the wall of terrorism that has divided our thousand-year brotherhood,' he said.

He also assured that the government would remain vigilant against potential provocations during the process, emphasizing that all necessary precautions would be taken.

"A Türkiye free of terrorism will be a victory for all 85 million people—regardless of whether they are Turkish, Kurdish, Arab, Alevi, Sunni, or from the opposition," he added.

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Abdullah Öcalan PKK disarmament Turkiye