Turkish President Rechep Tayyip Erdogan has got a big success. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has announced after 40 years of fighting against the Turkish government that the group is laying arms and dissolving itself. PKK had revolted against the government demanding a separate autonomous region for the Kurds, which can now be stopped.
On Monday, the Phirat News Agency gave information about PKK’s arms, which is considered to be the nearest media outlet of the armed group. PKK has decided to dissolve himself on the call of his leader Abdullah Oklan. Okalan has been accused of spreading treason and separatism and he is in jail. In February, he called for PKK to insert arms and dissolve the group.
The Kurdish population in Türkiye’s total population is 20 percent and the purpose of PKK rebellion was initially to demand an independent country for the Kurds. But later the group got away from separatist goals and instead began to demand an autonomy for the Kurds. So far more than 40,000 people have been killed in the Battle of Turkish government and PKK, in which most of PKK fighters have been killed.
PKK has been banned by the European Union, Britain and America including Türkiye as a terrorist group. With the announcement of laying arms, PKK said that the group has completed its historic mission and will end the method of armed struggle. From now on, the Kurdish issue can be resolved through democratic politics.
Kurdish leader Oklan is jailed since 1999
In February this year, 76 -year -old Kurdish leader Oklan called for the PKK group to lay down arms and dissolve himself. The PKK leaders have been in a secluded imprisonment in a prison on an island of Marmar Sagar in the southwest of Istanbul since 1999.
Oklan wrote a letter from jail in February stating that ‘there is no option but democracy in achieving and implementing the political system. Democratic consensus is the original way.
It is not clear what Okanan and his supporters will get in return for dissolving the group, but there are speculation that they can be released on parole.
In recent years, PKK has been hugely damaged by the Turkish Army. It has also become difficult for the Kurds to work in Iraq and Syria. If President Erdogan has to participate again in the next presidential election of Türkiye to be held in 2028, then he will need the support of supporters political parties.
According to news agency Reuters, a spokesperson of President Tayyip Erdogan said that the decision to dissolve PKK is an important step towards ‘terrorism -free Turkey’ and this process would be monitored by the institutions of the country.
Speaking to BBC, Vinthrop Roders of Think Tank Chautham House, who works on international affairs, said that Turkey would need a major democratic change to meet the demands of Kurdish political parties.
Roders said that in recent months some Turkish leaders have shown goodwill to PKK, due to which the disintegration of the group has been possible.
What is the history of PKK?
PKK is a militant group founded in 1978 by Abdullah Oklan in southeast Türkiye. The group’s ideology is based on Marxist-Leninist ideas. PKK launched its rebellion against Türkiye in 1984, which was aimed at making an independent Kurdistan. But later, the group left the demand for their separate country and started the demand for the Kurds in South-East Türkiye.
PKK had operated from Syria by 1998 but the group leader Oklan had to flee Syria amid Türkiye’s increasing pressure. A few months later, Turkish Special Forces caught Oklan in Kenya. In 1999, a Turkish court sentenced Olakan to death. But in October 2002, Oklan’s death sentence was converted into life imprisonment.
PKK’s rebellion continued even after Oklan’s imprisonment. After decades of violence, the Turkish government and PKK came to the conversation table in 2012 but the conversation stopped in July 2015 and the violence of Kurds started again in Türkiye. But gradually the fight weakened.
In October 2024, the political ally of President Erdogan, Davollet Bahshelli, said that Oklan will be freed if the PKK ends its movement and dissolves himself. A few months after his statement, PKK has announced to dissolve himself.
Source link
[ad_3]
