The Kurdistan Workers' Party has disbanded, and PKK members are ready to lay down their arms. The future of the Kurds in the region looks uncertain, and Erdogan can boast of success.
After more than 40 years, the conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkey is coming to an end. The banned PKK has announced that it has disbanded. Members of the separatist organization, designated a terrorist organization in Turkey, are also willing to surrender their weapons as part of peace talks with Ankara.
The Kurds followed Öcalan's call
In late February, PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan surprisingly called on PKK members to lay down their arms. Last fall, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan approached him and promised to release him if he disbanded the organization.
Öcalan has been serving a life sentence in the prison on Imrali Island since 1999, and was the only prisoner there from 1999 to 2009. He was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1999 in a raid by the Turkish MIT with the support of the CIA. Öcalan had previously sought refuge in Syria for many years, but was forced to flee under pressure from Ankara and Washington.
Success for Erdogan, uncertain future for the Kurds
The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish rights since 1984, and Turkey and its allies designate the organization as a terrorist organization. Initially, the PKK fought for their own state, later for greater autonomy. In total, about 45,000 people have been killed in the fighting between the Turkish army and the PKK, and the current development is a great success for Erdogan, who is likely to declare that he has achieved what his predecessors failed to do.
What lies ahead for the Kurds is unclear, but they hope for peace and more rights. About 40 million Kurds live in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. After World War I, they received promises of founding their own state, but these never materialized.
In recent years, the PKK's headquarters were in northern Iraq. The party also has influence in Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces there, led by the Kurdish military formation "People's Protection Units" (YPG), have come under increased pressure from Turkey in recent months. Their relations with the new authorities in Damascus are also unstable.