'Kurdish Separatist' PKK Declares Ceasefire with T?rkiye Government ... 40 Years of Armed Struggle

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist armed group, has declared a ceasefire with T?rkiye, major foreign media including AFP reported on the 1st (local time).

In a statement released through the pro-Kurdish ANF news agency on the same day, the PKK announced, "To create a path toward peace and a democratic society as demanded by our leader Abdullah ?calan, we declare a ceasefire effective from today."

Residents of T?rkiye protesting while holding a photo of Abdullah ?calan, founder of the PKK. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News Agency

Earlier, on the 27th of last month, ?calan urged the cessation of armed struggle through the pro-Kurdish opposition party in T?rkiye, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), saying, "All groups must lay down their arms, and the PKK must disband itself."

By declaring the ceasefire, the PKK demanded that the Turkish government release ?calan to lead the disarmament process and establish the political conditions necessary for this.

?calan, who founded the PKK in 1978, was captured in 1999 and sentenced to death. Following the abolition of the death penalty, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he has been held in solitary confinement for 27 years in the ?mralı Island prison southwest of Istanbul.

The PKK has waged armed struggle against the government, demanding independence or autonomy in southeastern T?rkiye, where Kurds constitute the majority.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.