Kurdish terrorist group announces ceasefire for 40-year rebellion in Türkiye

Kurdish militants who have been insurgent for 40 years in Türkiye announced a ceasefire on Saturday, which may mark a clear boost to this President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Government, imprisoned leader two days later Ask the group to be disarmed.

The PKK announcement is in Fundamental changes in the regionincluding after neighboring Syria reconfigurates its power President Bashar Assad’s overturn,weaken Hezbollah radical movement in Lebanon and Israel – Hamas War in Gaza.

The conflict between Türkiye and the PKK has resulted in thousands of deaths since its inception in 1984. The ceasefire is the first sign of breakthrough since the peace talks between the PKK and Ankara in the summer of 2015.

The Kurdish Workers’ Bank’s declaration was released by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the group on Saturday. It refers to the leader of the insurgent Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned in Türkiye since 1999.

“We announced an effective ceasefire today, paving the way for the implementation of the leader Apo’s call for peaceful and democratic societies. Our forces will not take armed action unless attacked,” it said.

On Thursday, a delegation of Kurdish politicians announced that Ocalan called on the Workers’ Kurdish Party (PKK) to lie down and disband after visiting him in his island prison.

The White House praised the call for peace, CBS News Report This week.

The Executive Committee of the PKK Party said in a statement that Okaran’s call showed that “Kurdistan and the Middle East have begun a new historical process.” Kurdistan refers to parts of Türkiye, Iraq, Syria and Iran where the Kurds live.

The PKK stressed that “democratic political and legal basis must also be suitable for success” while noting that it will “comply and implement our call requirements on the side.”

Ocalan’s appeal comes as Türkiye’s main pro-Kurdian party faces pressure, with several of its mayors being removed from office in recent months and replaced by government appointees.

The PKK also called on Ocalan to be released from the Imrali prison in the Marmara Sea to “in person and execute” a party congress that would lead militants to lay down their weapons.

The peace initiative between the Turkish state and the PKK party was regarded as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, and started in October by Erdogan’s joint partner Devlet Bahceli, a far-right politician who suggested that Okalar could be given if his group abstained from revoking violence and disbandment.

Berkay Mandiraci, a senior Turkish analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, told CBS News that the peace agreement between the Turkish government and the Workers’ Kurdish Party “can “remove this long-standing thorn in bilateral relations” and that it can bring “a large amount of Turkish dividend.”

Erdogan said Ocalan’s message is a “new phase” of Türkiye’s peace efforts.

“There is a chance to take a historic step to remove the horror wall between the 1,000-year-old Brotherhood (Turks and Kurds),” Erdogan said on Friday.

The government’s first response to the ceasefire came from Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz. He posted on X: “It has entered a new phase with the goal of a terrifying Turkey. … We hope this opportunity will be captured and this effort will end quickly and successfully.”

Some believe that the main purpose of the reconciliation efforts is to get the Erdogan government to Kurdish support for the new constitution, which will allow him to continue to rule after 2028 by the end of his term.

Bahceli has publicly called for a new constitution, saying Erdogan’s continued rule is crucial to Turkey’s future. Erdogan and Bahceli are reportedly seeking pro-Kurdian equality with the Democratic Party or dem parliamentary support.

“There will be a series of meetings next week, including state officials and politicians, and many things will become clearer and more specific. We hope everything will be arranged in the next three months,” said Sirri Sureyya Onder, a DEM member who visited Ocalan in prison Thursday.

Leaders of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Ocalan’s call for a ceasefire would not apply to his groups in Syria.

Ocalan, 75, played a significant role in the Kurdish movement, despite being sentenced to 25 years in prison during which PKK fled and found a top figure in the Kurdish region in northern Iraq and found a shelter.

But a decade of fighting seems to have “weaked” the PKK, Mandylasi said. “The Turkish military drove the group out of southeastern Turkey and penetrated it deep into the steep and ruthless mountains in northern Iraq,” he said.

In recent years, the PKK has been limited to isolated attacks within Turkey, as the Turkish military has increasingly pushed PKKK insurgents into the mountains of Iraq, supported by armed drones.

Leaders of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Ocalan’s call for a ceasefire would not apply to his groups in Syria.

In Syria, Kurdish fighters linked to the PKK are involved in fierce battles with Turkish-backed forces.

However, the Turkish government said it claims that all Kurdish organizations with the PKK (whether in Türkiye, Syria or Iraq) must be dissolved.