PKK’s jailed leader Ocalan says armed struggle against Turkiye over

Influential person records connection from prison, saying ‘care and sensitivity’ needed for bid process.

Abdullah Ocalan, the person of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has announced the extremity of the group’s equipped conflict against Turkiye, calling for a afloat displacement to antiauthoritarian politics.

The jailed leader relayed his connection via a video signaling dated June, which was aired by the PKK-aligned Firat News Agency connected Wednesday, describing the displacement arsenic a “historic gain”.

“This represents a voluntary modulation from the signifier of equipped struggle to the signifier of antiauthoritarian authorities and law,” said Ocalan, who has been successful situation since 1999, but remains a hugely influential fig among Kurds successful Turkiye and beyond.

He said the process of voluntary disarmament of Kurdish PKK fighters and the instauration of a Turkish parliamentary committee to oversee the bid process would beryllium “crucial”.

“Care and sensitivity are essential,” helium said, adding that details of the disarmament process would beryllium “determined and implemented swiftly”.

Ocalan’s connection was released conscionable days earlier the archetypal PKK disarmament ceremonial successful bluish Iraq.

Back successful May, the PKK had already announced it was disbanding aft much than 40 years of equipped conflict against the Turkish state.

The announcement came 2 months aft Ocalan, besides known arsenic “Appo” – Kurdish for Uncle – called connected the radical to disarm successful February.

For astir of its history, the PKK has been labelled a “terrorist” radical by Turkiye, the European Union and the United States.

Ocalan was calved to a mediocre Kurdish farming household successful 1948, successful Omerli, Sanliurfa, a Kurdish-majority portion of Turkiye.

It was aft studying governmental subject astatine Ankara University that helium became politically active, founding the PKK successful 1978.

Six years later, the radical launched a separatist rebellion against Turkiye nether his command.

More than 40,000 radical were killed betwixt 1984 and 2024, with thousands of Kurds fleeing the unit successful southeastern Turkiye into cities further north.