Kurdish militant group PKK to end four-decade conflict with Turkey

A Kurdish militant group said it would end its armed struggle and dissolve itself after four decades of conflict with Turkey, a move that could help resolve a top security threat for the country and the Middle East.

Kurdistan Workers Party officials announce the party's dissolution during their 12th Party Congress at an undisclosed location in northern Iraq on Monday. Picture: AFP / ANF News

A Kurdish militant group said it would end its armed struggle and dissolve itself after four decades of conflict with Turkey, a move that could help resolve a top security threat for the country and the wider Middle East.

The announcement by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, comes after a call earlier this year by its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, for the group to lay down its arms and disband, evaluate their struggle and decide on the path forward.

In a statement carried by the Firat news agency, which is aligned with the PKK, the group said it “has completed its historical mission”.

“On this basis, the 12th Congress of the PKK decided to dissolve the organisational structure of the PKK and to end the armed struggle method,” the PKK said.

The PKK, which is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and the US, has fought a slow-burning war with the Turkish state, including gun and bomb attacks and years of guerrilla warfare, since the 1980s. The group initially fought for an independent Kurdish state and later demanded greater rights for Kurds, a broad ethnic group of tens of millions of people spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The PKK has affiliates in all four countries.

The decision to disarm came nearly three months after the call from Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in Turkey. In March, the PKK declared a ceasefire.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan welcomed the announcement, saying that the government would “follow closely the practical steps to be taken”, according to Turkish state media.

An end to the conflict with the PKK could help settle one of Turkey’s most important political questions after decades in which millions of Kurds have demanded recognition and language rights.

Monday’s announcement comes after more than a year of conflict that has altered the balance of power in the wider Middle East, including Israel’s war with Hamas militants in Gaza and Iranian-allied militias across the region. The weakening of Iran contributed to the fall of the Assad regime in Syria late last year, further realigning the region and removing a key opponent of Turkey.

A resolution to the conflict could also help remove a source of tension between Ankara and Washington over the US’s military partnership with some Kurdish fighters in the battle against Islamic State extremists. The US has made a distinction between the PKK and members of its Syrian branch that are joined with the US military, including the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Much will depend on whether Kurdish militants comply with the call to disarm. Thousands of battle-hardened fighters across the region would have to be demobilised. Key leaders of PKK affiliates in the region have said they would comply with Ocalan’s message.

It is also not clear what, if anything, Turkey has offered in return for the PKK laying down their arms. The Turkish government could free Ocalan or other Kurdish leaders from prison as a part of a possible deal, analysts say. The government could also face pressure from Turkish nationalists, who in the past have strongly opposed peace negotiations with the PKK.

“The important question now is how Ankara will respond to this step,” said Berkay Mandiraci, senior Turkey analyst for the International Crisis Group.

“The president, his party and its alliance partner the MHP appear willing to stay the course. Similarly, the PKK seems keen on going down this path. That raises hope that this 40-year conflict will finally come to a close.” “The potential benefits of a durable peace in the region would be substantial,” Mr Mandiraci said.

Founded in 1978, the PKK launched its armed insurgency in 1984, largely operating in Turkey’s southeast region. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict. In 1999, Ocalan was captured in Kenya by Turkish agents and incarcerated in a prison on an island in the Sea of Marmara.

It remains to be seen if tensions subside between the PKK and Turkey. Since the 1990s, the PKK has announced several ceasefires, only to have the conflict start again.

In 2013, Ocalan announced the end of the armed struggle and the withdrawal of PKK forces from Turkish territory as part of another ceasefire deal. But the conflict resumed two years later after two policemen were killed in Ceylanpinar, southern Turkey. The Turkish government accused the PKK of orchestrating the attack.

The Wall Street Journal