The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan has called on his party to lay down its arms and dissolve itself, a move that could end its 40-year conflict with Turkiye and have a wider impact on the region.
A delegation of Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party visited Ocalan in his island prison and later delivered his statement in nearby Istanbul.
“I am making a call for the laying down of arms, and I take on the historical responsibility of this call,” Ocalan said in a letter made public by DEM party members.
Ocalan wants his party to hold a congress and to formally agree to dissolve itself, they quoted him as saying.
“Convene your congress and make a decision. All groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself,” Ocalan said, according to the statement.
The PKK is deemed a terrorist organization by Turkiye and its Western allies.
Commenting on the move, ruling AK Party Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala said that his country will be “free of its shackles” if the PKK lays down arms and dissolves.
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