The leader of the Kurdistan Labor Party (PKK) calls on the organization he himself created in 1978 to deposit its weapons through “peace and democracy”.
The 75-year-old Ocalan 75-year-old statement was read in an interview with Constantinople by members of the enlarged delegation of the pro-Kurdish party of the Peoples and Equality (DEM) who visited him earlier in the island Athens involvement, which left deep injuries in Greek -Turkish relations.
Today’s delegation was attended by Dem Pervin Buldan and Shiri Surrey Oder, who visited both Ocalan, the Kurdish veteran politician and the mayor of the province of Martin, Ahmoukoumou, Ahmoukoumou, Ahmis and two lawyers of Ocalan.
In the message, read in Turkish by Pervin Buldan and Kurdish by Ahmet Türk, Ocalan addresses the PKK: “In this climate created by Mr. Devlet Bachseli’s call, the will of the President and the Positive Politicians, I call on of this call. Consider your conference and make the decision to integrate with the state and society (…), all groups must deposit the weapons and the PKK must be resolved. “
Ocalan explained that the armed struggle against the state was once necessary because of policies that denied the Kurdish identity and limited Kurdish rights and freedoms. However, he said that with the democratic steps taken by the Turkish government since 2014 on Kurdish issues, along with regional developments, armed resistance no longer makes sense.
Jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan calls on the group to lay down arms and dissolve itself.
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish)
The long -awaited statement was read by DEM MPs at the “Call for Peace and Democratic Society” meeting, held at the Elite World Hotel in Constantinople, while a giant screen was a photo of the historic PKK leader from a visit to Imrali.
Turkey has declared the PKK forbidden organization. Ocalan’s message will have extensive impacts across the Middle East, not only in Syria, where the Kurdish forces control significant territories, but also in Iran and Iraq.
PKK’s story and where is it today
The PKK is responsible for a series of attacks since its establishment, mainly bombers in cars and shots, targeting Turkish military and security targets. The team took responsibility for an attack on a state -owned weapon company near Ankara last October, killing at least five people and injuring another 22.
The ceasefire between PKK and Turkey collapsed in 2015, prompting Ankara to renew attacks on the group, using unmanned aircraft and air raids, aimed at fighters in all mountains of northern Iraq. The International Crisis Group thinks that more than 7,152 people have been killed in conflicts or attacks in Turkey and northern Iraq in the years, including 646 civilians, over 4,000 fighters and nearly 1,500 members of the Turkish security forces.
Ocalan’s message is expected to influence the factions of the Kurdish armed groups, scattered in northeast Syria and northern Iraq and linked to the PKK, in particular the US -backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are warrants.
The team is in talks with the new leadership in Damascus following the overthrow of former President Bashar al -Assad, negotiating control of northeast Syria, as well as its future role in a national military force. Ocalan’s announcement appears to be exerting further pressure and isolate the SDFs, which have clashed with Turkey -backed militia in Syria and have long been a target of Turkish raids.
