The imprisoned chief of a Kurdish guerrilla motion that has been waging a bloody insurgency in opposition to the Turkish state for many years referred to as on Thursday for his fighters to put down their arms.
The Kurdistan Staff’ Social gathering, or P.Ok.Ok., is classed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the USA and different nations. The group’s chief, Abdullah Ocalan, made his enchantment in a written assertion that was learn aloud throughout a information convention by members of Turkey’s major pro-Kurdish political occasion who had simply visited him in jail.
Mr. Ocalan referred to as for the P.Ok.Ok. to put down its weapons, saying within the assertion that the group has accomplished its life-span and may disband.
The uncommon message from Mr. Ocalan raised the chance {that a} battle that has killed greater than 40,000 folks over 4 many years might lastly finish. It might additionally echo throughout borders, given Mr. Ocalan’s profound affect over members of the group in Turkey and Iraq in addition to affiliated Kurdish militias in Syria and Iran.
However there was little indication of what would occur subsequent. There was scant public dialogue of who would monitor compliance with Mr. Ocalan’s name, what would occur to fighters who adjust to it or what — if something — the federal government has provided in alternate for the disarmament.
Mr. Ocalan’s enchantment got here after a sequence of talks that included Turkish officers; Mr. Ocalan himself; and members of Turkey’s major pro-Kurdish occasion, the Folks’s Equality and Democracy Social gathering, or D.E.M.
In a speech to members of his political occasion in January, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey stated the federal government had provided Mr. Ocalan’s group no concessions however that ending the battle would profit Turks and Kurds alike.
The objective of the talks was to get “the phobia group to disband itself, to give up its arms unconditionally,” he stated.
However in an interview printed final week by the P.Ok.Ok.-linked Firat Information Company, a senior member of the group instructed that many points remained unresolved.
“Nobody ought to assume that there might be a simple negotiation on the desk, signatures might be made and every little thing might be solved,” stated the senior member, Duran Kalkan. “The opposite aspect desires to get rid of the P.Ok.Ok.”
The group has been battling the Turkish state because the early Eighties, attacking police stations and army posts and finishing up bombings which have killed many civilians. It started as a secessionist group that sought to create an impartial state for Turkey’s Kurdish minority however now says it seeks better rights for Kurds inside Turkey.
For a lot of Turks, Mr. Ocalan is the nation’s most despised terrorist. Turkish officers and information shops usually consult with him as “child killer” or “chief terrorist.” Convicted in 1999 of main an armed terrorist group, Mr. Ocalan has been in jail for a quarter-century. Pictures of him since have been uncommon.
Turkey and the P.Ok.Ok. have tried over time to resolve the battle, most not too long ago via peace talks that began in 2011. However negotiations broke down in 2015, ushering in a lethal new section.
Final October, a strong political ally of Mr. Erdogan made a stunning public name to Mr. Ocalan, requesting that he inform his fighters to put down their arms and finish the battle. That led to restricted visits from family members and political allies of Mr. Ocalan to discover the opportunity of a brand new peace course of.
