Jailed PKK Leader Ocalan Calls for End to Conflict with Turkiye

• Ocalan calls for PKK to disarm and dissolve in historic appeal
• Turkish government expects PKK to comply with the statement
• Move sparks speculation over future of Kurdish-Turkish conflict

The imprisoned leader of Turkiye’s banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, has issued a landmark appeal for the group to disarm, disband, and bring an end to its decades-long conflict with the Turkish state.

A delegation from Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party visited the island prison where Ocalan has been held since 1999 and later relayed his statement in Istanbul on Thursday.

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“I am calling for the laying down of arms, and I assume the historical responsibility of this appeal,” Ocalan declared in the letter.

“Convene your congress and make a decision. All groups must disarm, and the PKK must dissolve itself,” he stated.

The PKK is classified as a terrorist organisation by Turkiye and its Western allies.

Responding to the development, ruling AK Party Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala said Turkiye would be “free of its shackles” if the PKK heeds Ocalan’s call.

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In the first reaction from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, Ala affirmed that authorities expect the PKK to comply with Ocalan’s appeal.

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