The imprisoned chief of a Kurdish guerrilla motion that has waged a bloody insurgency towards the Turkish state referred to as Thursday for his group to put down its arms and dissolve, a pivotal declaration that would echo in neighboring international locations and assist finish 40 years of lethal battle.
Abdullah Ocalan, the chief of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., made his attraction in a written assertion that was learn aloud throughout a information convention by members of Turkey’s important pro-Kurdish political celebration who had simply visited him in jail.
He stated the group had gained floor at a time when “democratic channels of politics have been blocked” however had outlived its life-span and will disband.
“Convene your congress and decide,” he stated within the assertion, learn aloud first in Kurdish then in Turkish. “All teams should lay down their arms and the P.Ok.Ok. should dissolve itself.” Turkey and the Kurds should now transfer ahead “with the spirit of fraternity,” the assertion added, saying democracy was the one path to take action.
The information convention was full of journalists and Kurdish politicians. Some within the viewers applauded and gave a standing ovation when a brand new picture of the not often photographed Mr. Ocalan appeared on a display.
The uncommon message from Mr. Ocalan raised the chance {that a} battle that has killed greater than 40,000 individuals over 4 many years might lastly finish.
If the P.Ok.Ok. lays down it arms, it will resolve Turkey’s most enduring home safety risk and mark a major political achievement for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Many Turks would reward him for ending the battle and, if adopted by additional conciliatory steps towards the Kurds, might encourage them to help an effort to alter the Structure to permit him to run for a 3rd presidential time period.
The P.Ok.Ok.’s disarmament might additionally shift dynamics elsewhere within the Center East, given Mr. Ocalan’s profound affect over members of the group in Turkey and Iraq in addition to Kurdish militias in Syria and Iran.
However there was little indication of what would occur subsequent.
There was scant public dialogue of who would monitor compliance with Mr. Ocalan’s name, what would occur to fighters who adjust to it or what — if something — the federal government has supplied in change for the disarmament.
It additionally stays unclear what Mr. Ocalan’s name will imply for P.Ok.Ok. members in Iraq, and for the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led militia that controls a lot of northeastern Syria and has ties to the P.Ok.Ok. Mazloum Abdi, the chief of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, praised Mr. Ocalan’s name on Thursday however stated throughout an internet occasion that it was “not associated to us in Syria.”
The P.Ok.Ok. is classed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the USA and different international locations.
Mr. Ocalan’s attraction got here after a collection of talks that included Turkish officers; Mr. Ocalan himself; and members of Turkey’s important pro-Kurdish celebration, the Individuals’s Equality and Democracy Get together, or D.E.M.
In a speech to members of his political celebration in January, Mr. Erdogan stated the federal government had supplied Mr. Ocalan’s group no concessions. However ending the battle would profit Turks and Kurds alike, he stated.
The aim of the talks was to get “the fear group to disband itself, to give up its arms unconditionally,” he stated.
However in an interview revealed final week by the P.Ok.Ok.-linked Firat Information Company, a senior member of the group recommended that many points remained unresolved.
“Nobody ought to assume that there will likely be a simple negotiation on the desk, signatures will likely be made and all the pieces will likely be solved,” stated the senior member, Duran Kalkan. “The opposite facet needs to remove the P.Ok.Ok.”
The Kurdish group has been battling the Turkish state for the reason that early Eighties, attacking police stations and navy posts and finishing up bombings which have killed many civilians. It started as a secessionist group that sought to create an unbiased state for Turkey’s Kurdish minority, however now says it seeks larger rights for Kurds inside Turkey.
For a lot of Turks, Mr. Ocalan is the nation’s most despised terrorist. Turkish officers and information retailers usually discuss with him as “child killer” or “chief terrorist.” Convicted in 1999 of main an armed terrorist group, Mr. Ocalan has been in jail for a quarter-century.
Turkey and the P.Ok.Ok. have tried over time to resolve the battle, most lately by means of peace talks that began in 2011. However negotiations broke down in 2015, ushering in a lethal new section.
Final October, a robust political ally of Mr. Erdogan made a surprising public call to Mr. Ocalan, asking him to inform his fighters to put down their arms and finish the battle. Doing so, the politician stated, might open a pathway for his life sentence in a Turkish jail to be ended.
That led to restricted jail visits from family members and political allies of Mr. Ocalan to discover the potential for a brand new peace course of.
Regional and home dynamics may need prompted the Turkish authorities to take a brand new take a look at its battle with the P.Ok.Ok. Conflicts effervescent up across the Center East might have motivated Turkey’s leaders to attempt to make sure stability at dwelling.
Turkey’s navy has significantly degraded the P.Ok.Ok.’s navy capabilities, which can have made the group extra open to negotiations.
And the rise of a Turkish-allied insurgent group to energy in Syria in December has left the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria susceptible and in peril of getting its energy eroded.
“Turkey’s house of maneuver expanded considerably,” stated Sinem Adar, a Berlin-based, Turkey analyst on the German Institute for Worldwide and Safety Affairs. “It’s a now-or-never second for Turkey” to weaken the territorial management of the Kurdish militia in Syria, which it considers as a risk to its safety, she added.
On Thursday in Diyarbakir, a predominantly Kurdish metropolis in jap Turkey, Mr. Ocalan’s name for disarmament drew blended feelings.
Lots of of individuals had gathered within the metropolis middle to take heed to his message, which was broadcast by means of massive loudspeakers dotting the Dagkapi Sq..
A couple of, like Baran Aydin, a 29-year-old Kurd who stated he had been imprisoned for seven years for P.Ok.Ok.-related prices and had been launched solely every week in the past, stated they trusted Mr. Ocalan’s choice making and have been hopeful. However extra left crying in frustration and confusion when the studying in Kurdish ended.
“I’m not certain what I’m feeling,’’ stated Sakir İlbey, a 58-year-old Kurd. “Peace means being equal to a Turk.”
However “I don’t belief the state,” he added.
Mem Erzen, 24, stated he had anticipated Mr. Ocalan would name for disarmament, however was however disillusioned.
“I’ve witnessed losses most of my life,” he stated. “I perceive now it’s time for diplomacy,” he added. “However I’m unhappy.”
Murat Bayram contributed reporting.
