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The Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), the militant group which has been in conflict with the Turkish state for more than 40 years, said it would disband in a historic move with major political and security implications for the region.
The PKK decided to “end the armed struggle”, according to pro-Kurdish news agency ANF, which published on Monday the closing statement of a PKK congress held in Iraq last week. The group had declared a ceasefire on March 1.
The PKK, which is designated a terrorist group by Turkey and its western allies, has been linked with US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria. Its decision could ease tensions between Turkey and the US over power-sharing arrangements in Syria.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984.
The peace process, if successful, could boost domestic political support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as he seeks to extend his two-decade rule for another term, beyond presidential elections currently scheduled for 2028.
The congress said in its declaration that the PKK’s struggle had “brought the Kurdish issue to the point of resolution through democratic politics, thus completing its historical mission”.
Ömer Çelik, spokesperson for the governing AK party, called the move an “an important step in terms of the goal of a ‘terror-free Turkey’”. He added in a post on social media that “if terrorism ends completely, the door to a new era will open”.
The process gained momentum in February, when PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged the group to convene and decide formally to disband.
The peace process has been backed domestically by far-right nationalist politician Devlet Bahçeli, a close Erdoğan ally.
Negotiations have since been conducted behind a wall of secrecy, and it remains unclear how the process will proceed, including how weapons will be disposed of, who would monitor the process, the fate of PKK militants and if the group’s leaders might be given sanctuary in third countries.
Any concessions the PKK might obtain in exchange for its decision to disband have not been disclosed. There is also the broader question of what political rights Turkey’s Kurds, who make up almost a fifth of Turkey’s 90mn population, might gain.
The pro-Kurdish DEM party, Turkey’s third largest, has called for recognition of Kurdish identity and culture in the country’s constitution, Kurdish language teaching in schools, and the devolution of powers to local authorities in Turkey’s Kurdish majority south-east.
Multiple previous peace efforts have ended with failure, most recently in 2015. But this decision comes against a backdrop of major changes in both Turkey and the wider region.
The Turkish military had led an effective drones-led counter insurgency, which increasingly pushed militants out of the country and into Iraq and Syria. The overthrow of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has since thrown into question the position of the US-backed Kurdish-linked forces who had fought against him in north-eastern Syria.