In a monumental turn of events, the Kurdistan Workers Party(PKK) has announced a ceasefire ending a forty years long armed conflict between the PKK and Turkish government.

This Saturday marks a significant turning point in the Kurdish independence struggle with the leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, calling for the armed parts of the party to cease hostilities with the Turkish government from his imprisonment in an Island off the coast of the old capital Istanbul, where he has been for some 26 years. Discussions began in late February between the pro Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party(DEM) and Ocalan in his prison in late February and concluded on the 1st of March with Ocalan calling for the PKK to disarm. He said in his statement:

“In the 1990s, with the collapse of real socialism due to internal dynamics, the dissolution of the denial of Kurdish identity in the country[Türkiye], and improvements in freedom of expression, led to the weakening of the PKK´s foundational meaningfulness and resulted in excessive repetition. Therefore, it has run its course like its counterparts and has necessitated its dissolution.”

Turkish President Erdogan welcomes the calls for disarmament but says the PKK should dissolve altogether, warning that Türkiye will be ready with an iron fist to crack down on any betrayal of agreements made in future.