The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has announced an immediate ceasefire with Turkey. The news was reported by the Executive Council of the PKK-affiliated news agency ANF on Sunday.
According to the statement, the PKK will continue to defend itself against attacks, but will not initiate any armed actions, as long as no attacks are made against them.
The announcement is in response to a call made by the PKK’s founder, Abdullah Öcalan, who has been in custody for decades. The statement further notes that any further steps, including disarmament, can only be implemented under Öcalan’s “practical leadership.”
The PKK requires Öcalan to personally take the lead in the direction and conduct of the PKK Congress and only he can lead the organization into an “era of peace and democratic society.”
The PKK was founded in 1978 and has been waging a conflict against the Turkish state since the 1980s. It is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US. Peace talks have repeatedly failed in recent years. Öcalan, who was kidnapped in Nairobi in 1999 and has been in Turkish custody since, had previously called on the PKK to lay down its arms and disband the organization just a few days ago.