The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a US-designated terror group, has announced its disbandment and disarmament following a four-decade insurgency against Turkey. This decision comes after the group shifted its focus from creating an independent Kurdish state to seeking greater rights and autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey. The PKK’s dissolution marks a significant shift in the long-standing conflict, with Turkey vowing to move toward a ‘terror-free’ country.
The PKK, which has sought an independent Kurdish state on Turkish soil, now claims it has completed its mission and shifted its focus to securing greater rights and limited autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey. The group’s statement emphasizes that its struggle has broken the policy of denial and annihilation of the Kurdish people, leading to a point where the issue can be resolved through democratic politics, according to the Firat news website, which showed images of senior PKK members attending the congress in fighter fatigues.
Turkey’s presidential communications director, Fahrettin Altun, indicated that the country will take necessary measures to ensure smooth progress toward a ‘terror-free’ country after the PKK decision. The dissolution of the PKK raises questions for Turkey’s Islamist government and the pro-American Kurdish forces (YPG) in northern Syria, who helped defeat the Islamic State. Turkey considers the YPG an affiliate of the PKK, leading to repeated military strikes against Syrian Kurds.
Separately, Mazloum Abdi, the pro-American commander in chief of Syrian Kurdish fighters, called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which ousted the Islamic State, said Ocalan’s call did not apply to his organization. The YPG is part of the larger umbrella organization, the S, and is not associated with the PKK. The U.S. and the EU, which support the SDF and the YPG, do not see an affiliation between the SDF, YPG, and the PKK.
This complex web of alliances and hostilities underscores the ongoing challenges in the region as the PKK’s dissolution reshapes the dynamics of Kurdish and Turkish relations. The Kurds, among the largest stateless ethnic groups in the world, with some 30 million concentrated in an area straddling Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, face a significant shift in their political aspirations as the PKK disbands, potentially opening new avenues for dialogue with Ankara.