by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced Monday it will disband and disarm after four decades of armed conflict with Turkey, a fight that has claimed over 40,000 lives. The announcement, made through the Firat News Agency after a congress in northern Iraq, marks a significant shift in the region’s geopolitical landscape.
Founded in 1978 by Abdullah Ocalan and a group of Kurdish nationalists, the PKK initially sought to establish an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey. The group’s Marxist-Leninist ideology and armed struggle led to decades of violent conflict with the Turkish state. The PKK was designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union due to its attacks on military and civilian targets.
In the 1990s, the PKK began shifting its objective from full independence to greater Kurdish autonomy and cultural rights. In 1999, Ocalan was captured by Turkish forces and has since been imprisoned on Imrali Island near Istanbul. Despite his imprisonment, Ocalan remained a symbolic leader of the Kurdish nationalist movement.
The PKK stated it has “completed its historic mission,” transitioning from seeking an independent Kurdish state to advocating for Kurdish rights and limited autonomy. “The PKK struggle has broken the policy of denial and annihilation of our people and brought the Kurdish issue to a point of solving it through democratic politics,” the group said.
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU, has led an insurgency since 1984, prompting Turkish military operations in Syria and Iraq. Abdullah Ocalan, the group’s imprisoned leader, called for the disbandment in February.
Mazloum Abdi, commander of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said the PKK’s disbandment does not apply to his group in Syria, which has been a key ally in the fight against ISIS.
Turkey’s presidential communications director, Fahrettin Altun, said Turkey will “take necessary measures to ensure a terror-free country,” while Omer Celik, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party, emphasized that the decision must extend to all “PKK branches, affiliates, and illegal structures.”
The disbandment raises questions about the future of Kurdish militias in Syria and the broader Middle East, where the Kurds remain one of the largest stateless ethnic groups, with an estimated 30 million people spread across Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Despite being minorities in all four countries, the Kurds maintain a distinct cultural identity, speaking their own language with several dialects. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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