Kurdish armed group PKK disbands itself, ends 40-year fight against Turkey

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting the Turkish state for over 40 years, has decided to disband and end its armed struggle, Firat news agency which is close to the group reported on Monday.

This decision is expected to bring major political and security changes in the region, including in Iraq and Syria, where Kurdish forces work with US troops and have key stronghold.

The PKK insurgency, which began in 1984, has claimed over 40,000 lives. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its allies.

“The PKK has completed its historic mission,” the group said, according to Firat news agency. This statement followed a congress held last week in northern Iraq, where the PKK is based.

The congress was called in response to a February request from its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, to disband. The PKK’s 12th Congress decided to dissolve its organizational structure and end its armed struggle, with the process managed by Ocalan, also known as Leader Apo.

“The PKK struggle has broken the policy of denial and annihilation of our people and brought the Kurdish issue to a point of solving it through democratic politics,” the statement said.

The PKK’s decision to disband gives President Tayyip Erdogan a chance to boost development in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast, where the conflict has hurt the economy for decades.

Omer Celik, spokesperson for Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, called the move “an important step toward a terror-free Turkey.” Turkey’s foreign ministry has not yet commented, though any announcement related to the development is expected.