Kurdish militants have declared a ceasefire with Turkey after a landmark call by the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, who urged the group to dissolve and lay down its arms. If the declaration is accepted by Turkey, it could put an end to a decades-long regional conflict that is estimated to have taken at least 40,000 lives. The PKK executive committee affirmed that “in order to pave the way for the implementation of leader Apo’s call for peace and democratic society, we are declaring a ceasefire effective today.” This article will explore the historical background of the conflict between the PKK and Turkey alongside the possible outcomes of this ceasefire declaration.
The History of the Conflict:
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was established by Abdullah Öcalan in 1978. Due to the fact that Kurds comprise nearly one-fifth of the Turkish population of seventy-nine million, since 1984, the PKK has been fighting against Turkish authorities for greater cultural and political rights, primarily intending to establish an independent Kurdish state.
When Erdogan took office in 2014, tensions across Turkey had risen, especially during the 2013 Gezi Park Protests (protests over a development project in Gezi Park which were magnified into broader complaints over Erdogan’s style of government) and continued with the July 2016 coup attempt (troops blocked off cities; the government claimed that the coup was carried out by a Turkish terrorist group). Particularly, the PKK and the People’s Protection Unit (YPG) (the armed wing of the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD)) increasingly started to go against the government by conducting numerous attacks against Turkish authorities in the southeast.
In 2015, a two-year ceasefire between the Turkish government and the PKK collapsed following a suicide bombing by suspected self-proclaimed Islamic State militants. Following this souring of relations as well as the 2016 coup mentioned above, the government cracked down on suspected conspirators, arresting an estimated fifty thousand people and increasing airstrikes on PKK militants.
During this time, the Kurds did not only have a substantial presence in Turkey but equally in Syria and Iraq. Beyond Turkey, Syrian Kurdish fighters had been combating the Islamic State and had successfully carved out a semi-autonomous region in northern Syria. In response, Turkey and Turkish-backed Syrian forces moved to recapture cities and expel the Kurds throughout 2018. In 2019, an alliance of Kurdish fighters known as the Peshmerga also emerged in Iraq, prompting further back and forth between the Turkish government and Kurdish fighters throughout the region.
In 2021, Turkey revealed its much anticipated Operation Eren, named after a boy who had been killed in a PKK attack. The plan was aimed at deploying drones and thousands of troops to target PKK fighters in rural Turkey. In parallel to such ground operations, Turkey took steps on an international level to continue prosecuting the Kurds. Namely in 2023, Turkey blocked both Sweden’s and Finland’s applications to join NATO (Finland did end up going through) unless they strengthened their anti-terrorism mechanisms, particularly in regards to Kurdish groups.
What is the Present Situation?
Even though fighting has remained constant over almost five decades, the position of the PKK has recently become more compromised, no longer trying to establish an independent Kurdish state in the southeast but rather calling for more autonomy within Turkey. Similarly, the Turkish Government has been more open to negotiations, especially due to an ouverture from far-right Turkish lawyer Devlet Bahceli, who has invited Ocalan to come to Parliament and “declare that he has laid down his arms.”.
Supporters of the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy party display flags with portraits of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party leader Abdullah Ocalan during a rally in Istanbul in March 2024. Featured Image Courtesy of: Umit Bektas/Reuters/FILE
What Does This Declaration Mean for the Future of Turkey and the Kurds?
Erdogan stated that Ocalan’s appeal was a “historic opportunity,” adding that Turkey “would keep a close watch” to make sure the talks to end the insurgency were “brought to a successful conclusion.” Iraq has equally welcomed Oclan’s call for peace, saying it was “a positive and important step towards achieving stability in the region.”
This ceasefire declaration comes at an especially important time for Erdogan as he seeks to modify the Turkish Constitution in order to allow him to run for a third term beyond 2018. Gaining Kurdish parliamentary backing would be instrumental in ensuring that this objective is achieved. Regardless, uncertainty surrounds this ceasefire, taking into account the many similar attempts that were carried out in the past that failed to establish lasting peace in the region. Further negotiations are expected to take place in the upcoming weeks to discuss next steps. Additionally, the PKK has requested Oclan’s release to oversee the peace process, a demand that will likely not be fulfilled by Ankara.
Featured image: People in Diyarbakir, Turkey, are listening to the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan’s call for the group to disband on Thursday. Featured Image courtesy of: Mehmet Masum Suer/Sopa/Rex/Shutterstock
