ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Saturday declared a unilateral ceasefire with Turkey, stating it agrees with the contents of Abdullah Ocalan’s letter that called on the group to disarm and disband, but set a physical meeting with their jailed leader as a precondition for any successful peace process.
PKK’s Leadership Committee, the most senior executive body of the group, announced in a statement early Saturday morning that it “fully” agrees with the contents of Ocalan’s letter that carried the call for peace.
Ocalan, who has been jailed since 1999, on Thursday released a message for his followers via a letter shared by delegates who visited him at Imrali prison. The letter called on the PKK to end its decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish state by disarming and dissolving itself.
"It is clear that a new historical process has begun in Kurdistan and the Middle East with this call. This will also have a great impact on the development of free life and democratic governance worldwide. On this basis, the responsibility belongs to all of us. Everyone must embrace their duties and responsibilities and fulfill them accordingly," said the PKK.
"Undoubtedly, making such a call was of historical importance. Now, successfully putting its content into practice is of similar importance. As the PKK, we fully accept the content of this call and state that we will comply with and implement the requirements of the call on our part. However, we want to emphasize that for success, a suitable democratic political and legal foundation must also be established," it added.
The party also said that it is ready to hold a congress, as demanded by Ocalan in his Thursday letter, but said Ocalan has to lead the meeting - a precondition that PKK commanders on the ground had set weeks earlier.
"For this to happen, a secure environment must be established. And for the success of the congress, Leader Apo must personally guide and conduct it. Until now, we have managed the war, with all its mistakes and inadequacies, but only Leader Apo can manage the Period of Peace and Democratic Society," the PKK’s top body said.
Ocalan is also known as Apo, meaning uncle in Kurdish.
The PKK also unilaterally declared a ceasefire, effective Saturday.
"In this context, to pave the way for the realization of Leader Apo's call for Peace and Democratic Society, we declare a ceasefire effective from today. None of our forces will engage in armed action unless attacked. Beyond this, the implementation of matters such as laying down arms can only be realized through Leader Apo's practical leadership," it said.
The PKK has declared unilateral ceasefires several times in the past, including after the devastating 2023 earthquakes in Turkey and during holy occasions like Eid.
‘New beginning’
Ocalan, who founded the PKK in 1978 and launched a war against the Turkish state six years later, explained in his much-anticipated letter that the establishment of the party was a reaction to the “closure of democratic political channels” at the time.
“PKK was born on the ground formed by the 20th century, which was history's most intense period of violence, including two world wars, real-socialism and global cold war environments, the denial of Kurdish reality, and restrictions on freedoms, especially freedom of expression,” he said, adding that the situation has now changed and the PKK “has completed its life.”
An estimated 40,000 people, including civilians, have been killed in four decades of conflict that has spilled over international borders.
The PKK said that their potential disarmament and dissolution does not mean their end but a “new beginning.”
“Leader Apo's call is definitely not an end, but rather a brand new beginning. As the statement strikingly reveals, it expresses the very clear and sharp implementation now of what we needed to do in general for the last 35 years, and specifically for the last 20 years, but could not do adequately at the time,” it said.
“In this respect, it is necessary to understand correctly and adequately the leader’s call, its reasons, and the characteristics and duties of the new process it has initiated, and to successfully fulfill their requirements. It is of historical importance to approach the content of the call with great responsibility and seriousness and to successfully implement it in all areas,” it added.
The Turkish government has not directly committed to engaging with the PKK in peace talks, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said the country has entered a new phase “in the efforts for a terror-free Turkey since yesterday.”
Updated at 10:06 am on March 1, 2025
