PKK Kurdish militants agree to disarm, ending long-standing attacks against Turkey

A Kurdish militant group that has waged a decades-long armed campaign against Turkey has on Monday, May 12, 2025, announced it will disarm and dissolve.

This reportedly marks a potentially historic end to one of the region’s longest-running insurgencies.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), active for over 40 years, declared the decision following a statement earlier this year by its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan.

The PKK’s leadership said they would disband their guerrilla units, responding to Öcalan’s appeal made three months ago.

The group said its armed struggle had fulfilled its purpose by pushing the Kurdish issue into the realm of democratic politics.

It has been designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

According to PKK leaders, their mission was now complete.

The decision impacts PKK fighters stationed along Turkey’s borders with Iraq and Iran.

It will also have implications for affiliated or splinter groups operating in northeastern Syria.

While the PKK hailed the move as a “new phase” toward peace, the step appears to be unilateral, with the Turkish government yet to signal any formal willingness to engage in dialogue.

So far, Ankara has offered no public assurances or steps in response to the disarmament decision.

The announcement follows months of behind-the-scenes efforts to reach out to Kurdish political actors within Turkey.

Devlet Bahçeli, the nationalist leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a key political ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reportedly initiated contact with Kurdish politicians.

This move, some analysts believe, is aimed at securing support for extending Erdoğan’s presidency beyond his current term limit.

Bahçeli’s overtures have included efforts to gain favor from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) party.

Reacting cautiously, Ömer Çelik, spokesperson for Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), stated that the PKK’s dissolution would be a pivotal development.

The condition reportedly provided, is if it is fully implemented and leads to the closure of all branches and affiliated structures.

In their statement, PKK leaders described the disbandment as a step toward a “lasting peace and a democratic solution.”

They renewed calls for the release of Öcalan, who has been held in solitary confinement on İmralı Island since his capture in 1999 by Turkish intelligence agents in Kenya.

They asserted that Öcalan should be allowed to oversee the final stages of the group’s dissolution.

Founded in 1978, the PKK began its armed insurgency in 1984 with the goal of securing greater autonomy and rights for Kurds in southeastern Turkey.

Over the years, its activities have primarily targeted Turkish military assets, though the conflict has exacted a heavy toll on civilians as well.

Human rights group Amnesty International has criticized the PKK for causing harm to rural Kurdish populations, especially during the 1990s.

The prolonged conflict has resulted in significant bloodshed.

The International Crisis Group estimates that tens of thousands have died in the fighting between Turkish forces and the PKK.

In just one year following the collapse of a ceasefire in 2015, over 1,700 people, including civilians, Kurdish militants, and Turkish soldiers, were killed.

The PKK’s decision to lay down arms also leaves Kurdish fighters in Syria more isolated.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a major Kurdish-led military group in northeastern Syria, is now under increasing pressure to integrate into Syria’s re-emerging national army.

This follows the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the departure of U.S. military forces who had supported the SDF in recent years.

In March, SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement with new authorities in Damascus.

This agreement was supposedly to merge the SDF’s structures into the institutions of the newly forming Syrian state.

Despite the PKK’s move, Abdi stressed that his forces remain unaffected.

“To be clear,” he said, “this only concerns the PKK and has nothing to do with us here in Syria.”

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