Source: PKK declares ceasefire with Turkey after 40 years of armed struggle
Outlawed Kurdish militants declared a ceasefire Saturday with Turkey following a landmark call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan asking the group to disband and end more than four decades of armed struggle.
It was the first reaction from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party after Ocalan this week called for the dissolution of the group and asked it to lay down arms.
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency since 1984 with the aim of carving out a homeland for Kurds, who account for around 20% of Turkey’s 85 million people.
But more recently, the group has called for more autonomy and cultural and linguistic rights rather than independence.
Since Ocalan was jailed in 1999, there have been various attempts to end the bloodshed, which has cost more than 40,000 lives.
After several meetings with Ocalan at his island prison, the pro-Kurdish DEM party on Thursday relayed his appeal for the PKK to lay down its weapons and convene a congress to announce the organization’s dissolution.
The PKK said on Saturday it was ready to convene a congress as Ocalan wanted, but “for this to happen, a suitable secure environment must be created” and Ocalan “must personally direct and lead it for the success of the congress.”
