PKK disbands; EU urges Turkey to “seize the moment” for a political solution to the Kurdish issue

Brussels – The historic announcement of the dissolution of the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, after more than 40 years of armed struggle against the Turkish state and over 40,000 casualties, opens a window of opportunity to “initiate an inclusive process based on dialogue and reconciliation” between Ankara and the Kurdish minority, which accounts for about 20 percent of the population. That is the hope of the European Commission, leaders of Kurdish communities in the region, and the Turkish opposition to President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In a statement, Turkey has already made it clear that the dissolution of the PKK will not lead to concessions, decentralization, or “federal models that erode the country’s unitary structure.”

Negotiations that will lead the PKK to lay down its arms lasted over eight months. They began last fall through the mediation of the pro-Kurdish DEM party. They came to fruition when, on Feb. 27, Kurdish leader and theorist of Democratic Confederalism, Abdullah Öcalan – imprisoned for 26 years on the island prison of Imrali, off the coast of Istanbul – called on his movement to end guerrilla warfare. The PKK immediately ordered a ceasefire with Turkey until yesterday’s (May 12) announcement that “the 12th Congress of the PKK decided to disband the PKK’s organizational structure and end its armed struggle.”

Erdoğan, who even then called Öcalan’s appeal “a historic opportunity” for Turks and Kurds, said, “Today we have crossed another critical threshold. The terrorist group has decided to give up its weapons and dissolve. We consider this decision important for maintaining peace and brotherhood.” The president said, “To avoid incidents on this path, our intelligence will monitor what remains to conclude this process.”

The Kurdish Firat news agency, which has always been close to the PKK, unveiled how the Kurdish separatist organization will be dissolved. It will be in three phases under the auspices of the United Nations. In the first phase, detailed planning will be made to abandon arms: the first battalions to lay down their weapons will be those in northern Iraq, in the provinces of Duhok, Erbil, and Seyid Sadik. A third phase will involve the destruction of training camps, weapons depots, tunnels, and shelters, which should be delegated to the Turkish army. The process should occur under the eyes of international observers and the UN.

 The president of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), Tuncer Bakirhan, said, “The outcome of the PKK Congress is good news for all of Turkey.” He added that he hoped “this process will end in peace and democracy” because “there is now no obstacle to building a democratic Turkey.” The pro-Kurdish party, which played a key role in negotiations with Öcalan, has for years been the victim of a series of judicial investigations for alleged links with the PKK, and some of its leaders and exponents are still imprisoned. The charges of collaboration with the PKK — as well as bribery, money laundering, and bid-rigging — are the same with which Erdogan had Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a member of the Republican People’s Party, arrested on March 19.

The president of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, and the foreign ministers of Jordan and Syria, among others, expressed satisfaction with the historic breakthrough. From Brussels, the spokesman for the European Commission for Foreign Affairs, Anouar El Anouni, called for “the start of an incredible peace process aiming at a political solution to the Kurdish issue” and urged “all parties to seize the moment and start an inclusive process based on dialogue and reconciliation.”