After four decades of armed conflict against the Turkish state, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is set to hold a ceremony today in Iraqi Kurdistan to mark the symbolic first step towards laying down its arms, the BBC reports.
The disarmament process will commence under strict security measures in Iraqi Kurdistan and is expected to continue throughout the summer. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed the move as “the complete removal and discarding of the bloody shackles placed on our country’s feet.”
Impact and Details of the Disarmament
The conflict has claimed approximately 40,000 lives since its inception, and the PKK is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. Its disarmament is anticipated to have significant repercussions not only in Turkey but also across Iraq, Syria, and Iran.
A small contingent of PKK members will symbolically surrender their weapons at a ceremony near Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan before returning to their bases. For security reasons, the exact location is not being disclosed, though members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party, DEM, are expected to be present, and possibly other major Turkish political parties.
BBC Turkish reports that the disarmament will proceed over the coming months at designated points with the involvement of the Turkish, Iraqi, and Kurdish regional governments.
In a video message, long-imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan emphasized that this is “a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law.” Öcalan has been in solitary confinement on the small prison island of İmralı, southwest of Istanbul, since his capture in 1999.
