Kurdish militant group PKK to disband after four-decade insurgency against Turkey

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced connected Monday that it volition disband and disarm pursuing its much than four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state that has resulted successful the deaths of implicit 40,000 radical astatine the hands of PKK militants and Turkey’s military.

The PKK has sought to make an autarkic Kurdish authorities connected Turkish soil, wherever the Kurds marque up immoderate 20% of Turkey's 86 cardinal population. The U.S., the European Union and Turkey person classified the PKK arsenic a violent organization.

In its statement, the PKK said, according to a Reuters report, it "has completed its historical mission," which implicit the years shifted to seeking greater Kurdish rights and constricted autonomy successful southeast Turkey, alternatively than an autarkic state.

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Supporters cheer President Recep Tayyip Erdogan astatine an predetermination rally successful Ankara, Turkey, connected June 5, 2015.

"The PKK conflict has breached the argumentation of denial and annihilation of our radical and brought the Kurdish contented to a constituent of solving it done antiauthoritarian politics," it said connected the Firat quality website, which showed images of elder PKK members attending the legislature successful combatant fatigues.

Turkey volition instrumentality indispensable measures to guarantee creaseless advancement toward a "terror-free" state aft the PKK decision, said Turkey’s statesmanlike communications director, Fahrettin Altun.

The dissolution of the PKK raises a big of questions for the Islamist authorities of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the pro-American Kurdish forces (YPG) successful bluish Syrian who helped decision the Islamist State violent movement. Turkey considers the YPG an affiliate of the PKK and has repeatedly launched subject strikes against Syrian Kurds. 

A pistillate waves a emblem bearing a representation of the laminitis of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Abdullah Ocalan, arsenic radical stitchery successful the Kurdish-majority metropolis of Qamishli successful northeastern Syria connected Feb. 27, 2025. (Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images)

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The jailed PKK person Abdullah Ocalan, who has been held connected an land southbound of Istanbul since 1999, urged successful February that the PKK disband. 

Separately, Mazloum Abdi, the pro-American commandant successful main of Syrian Kurdish fighters, called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which ousted the Islamic State, said Ocalan’s telephone did not use to his organization. The YPG is portion of the larger umbrella organization, the SDF, and is not associated with the PKK.

People permission the country aft an detonation connected Istanbul's fashionable pedestrian Istiklal Avenue, Nov. 13, 2022. (Ismail Coskun/IHA via AP)

The U.S. and the EU are allied with the SDF and the YPG successful the combat against Islamist coercion successful Syria and, successful opposition to Turkey, bash not spot an affiliation betwixt the SDF, YPG and the PKK.  

Fox News Digital has reported implicit the years on Turkey’s efforts to hitch retired pro-U.S. Syrian Kurdish forces (SDF and YPG) who played a cardinal relation successful the dismantlement of the Islamic State.

Syrian Democratic Forces fighters thrust atop subject vehicles arsenic they observe triumph successful Raqqa, Syria, Oct. 17, 2017. (Reuters/Erik De Castro)

In December, aft erstwhile Syrian dictator Bashar Assad fled to Russia and his authorities collapsed, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., declared repeatedly successful an code to Erdoğan in Congress, "Leave the Kurds alone." He added, "The Kurds are America's friends… The radical astir liable for helping us, astir liable for destroying ISIS, were the Kurds."

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The Kurds are among the largest stateless taste groups successful the world, with immoderate 30 cardinal concentrated successful an country straddling Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. A number successful each 4 countries, the Kurds talk their ain language, with respective dialects. Most are Sunni Muslims.