PKK announces dissolution, ending decades-long conflict
By Nathan Morley
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought the Turkish state since 1984, announced its dissolution Monday, bringing an end to nearly five decades of armed struggle.
In a statement published by the PKK-affiliated Firat news agency (ANF), the group said it had "completed its historical mission" and would "end the method of armed struggle."
The organization, which is banned as a terrorist group in Türkiye, the EU, the UK, and the US, stated that from now on, the Kurdish issue "can be resolved through democratic politics."
The war, centered in southeastern Türkiye, has resulted in an estimated 40,000 deaths—mostly Kurds—along with the destruction of thousands of villages and the displacement of millions.
The decision comes two months after PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan—imprisoned for 26 years on Imrali Island in the Sea of Marmara—called on his movement to lay down arms.
His appeal, made public February 27, surprised analysts and the broader public.
The dissolution follows a mediation effort launched in the fall by Devlet Bahçeli, an ultranationalist ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, through the People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), Türkiye's third-largest political party.
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