PKK disarmament opens ‘new page in history’ for Turkiye, Erdogan says

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After announcing they would disarm, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began destroying their weapons successful bluish Iraq.

Published On 12 Jul 2025

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the state has begun a caller epoch arsenic the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) started the process to disarm aft a four-decade equipped struggle that killed much than 40,000 people.

In an code to his party, Justice and Development (AKP), Erdogan said connected Saturday that the “scourge of coercion has entered the process of ending”.

“Decades of sorrow, tears and distress came to an end. Turkiye turned that leafage arsenic of yesterday,” Erdogan said.

“Today is simply a caller day; a caller leafage has opened successful history. Today, the doors of a great, almighty Turkiye person been flung wide open,” the president added.

In a cave successful Sulaimaniyah successful bluish Iraq connected Friday, 30 PKK members burned their weapons, marking a hugely symbolic measurement towards ending their equipped run against Turkiye.

During Friday’s ceremony, elder PKK fig Bese Hozat work retired a connection astatine the Jasana cave successful the municipality of Dukan, 60km (37 miles) northwest of Sulaimaniyah successful the Kurdish portion of Iraq’s north, announcing the group’s determination to disarm.

“We voluntarily destruct our weapons, successful your presence, arsenic a measurement of goodwill and determination,” she said.

Since 1984, the PKK has been locked successful equipped struggle with the Turkish state, and decided successful May to disarm and disband aft a nationalist telephone from the group’s long-imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

Ocalan said successful a video earlier this week, which was recorded successful June by groups affiliated with Firat News Agency, that the determination to disarm was a “voluntary modulation from the signifier of equipped struggle to the signifier of antiauthoritarian authorities and law”, calling it a “historic gain”.

But Ocalan, contempt his imprisonment successful solitary confinement connected Imrali Island, Turkiye,  since his seizure successful 1999, has remained a symbolic fig for the radical and its offshoots extracurricular the country.

The PKK has been based successful bluish Iraq aft being pushed retired good beyond Turkiye’s southeastern borderline successful caller years.

But the extremity of Turkiye’s struggle with the equipped radical could person wider consequences for the region, including with neighbouring Syria, wherever the United States is allied with Syrian Kurdish forces, which Ankara deems a PKK offshoot.

But Washington, DC and Ankara privation Syrian Kurds to integrate into Syria’s caller authorities pursuing the autumn of erstwhile President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted successful December, which analysts accidental could beryllium further pushed pursuing the PKK’s disarmament.

Still, wrong the country, the Turkish pro-Kurdish DEM party, PKK and Ocalan person called connected Erdogan’s authorities to code Kurdish demands for much rights successful Kurdish-majority regions, including the southeast of the country.

Further disarmament is expected to instrumentality spot astatine designated locations, which involves coordination betwixt Turkiye, Iraq and the Kurdish determination authorities successful Iraq.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies

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