The PKK, a banned Kurdish organisation that has fought an insurgency against Turkey for 40 years, has said it is disbanding and laying down its weapons. The action came after Abdullah Ocalan, the group’s imprisoned leader, called for its dissolution in February.
The primary goal of the PKK insurgency was to establish an autonomous homeland for Kurds, who make up over 20% of Turkey’s population. However, it has subsequently abandoned its separatist objectives in favour of more autonomy and Kurdish rights.
Since the start of the conflict, more than 40,000 people have been slain. The PKK said that it had “completed its historical mission” and would “end the method of armed struggle.” The PKK is prohibited as a terrorist organisation in the US, the UK, the EU, and Turkey.
In a statement posted on the PKK-affiliated news agency ANF, the organisation stated that the Kurdish issue “can be resolved through democratic politics” from now on.
The 76-year-old Ocalan urged his movement to disband and disband in February. Since 1999, the PKK leader has been imprisoned in solitary confinement on an island in the Sea of Marmara, southwest of Istanbul.
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