Pakistan(National Times)- Founded in the late 1970s by Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK took up arms in 1984, beginning a string of attacks against the Turkish state that would cost more than 40,000 lives. The PKK \u201chas decided to dissolve.. and end its armed struggle,\u201d it said in a statement issued a week after its leadership held a three-day congress in the mountains of northern Iraq. \u201cThe PKK has fulfilled its historical mission\u201d and brought \u201cthe Kurdish issue to a point where it can be resolved through democratic politics,\u201d it said. The move was welcomed as an \u201cimportant step towards a terror-free Turkey\u201d by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s AKP party which said made clear that the disarmament process would be \u201cmeticulously monitored\u201d. The European Union called on \u201call parties to seize the moment\u201d and begin \u201can inclusive process based on dialogue and reconciliation\u201d. The announcement came after an appeal by Ocalan, who on February 27 urged his fighters disarm and disband in a letter from Istanbul\u2019s Imrali prison island, where he has been held since 1999. He also asked the PKK to hold a congress to formalise the decision. \u201cThis is not the end, it is a new beginning,\u201d PKK executive committee member Duran Kalkan told the congress in remarks quoted by the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018A turning point\u2019 Pakistan(National Times)- Founded in the late 1970s by Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK took up arms in 1984, beginning a string of attacks against the Turkish state that would cost more than 40,000 lives. The PKK \u201chas decided to dissolve.. and end its armed struggle,\u201d it said in a statement issued a week after its leadership […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
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AKP spokesman Omer Celik said if the decision was \u201cimplemented in practise in all its dimensions\u201d it would open the door to a new era. \u201cThe full and concrete implementation of the decision to dissolve and surrender arms\u2026 will be a turning point,\u201d he said. Top Erdogan aide Fahrettin Altin warned it would take time, saying the goal of a terror-free Turkey was \u201cnot a short-term or shallow process.. nor is it a process that will end overnight\u201d, he wrote on X. The president of Iraq\u2019s Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani \u2014 who is a crucial powerbroker in Kurdish affairs and has close ties with Turkey \u2014 hailed the move as a boost for regional security. The PKK decision \u201cdemonstrates political maturity and paves the way for a dialogue that promotes coexistence and stability in Turkey and the region,\u201d he said in a statement. In its statement, the PKK said the decision \u201coffers a strong basis for lasting peace and a democratic solution\u201d while stressing it was \u201cessential\u201d for Turkey\u2019s parliament to \u201cplay its role with historic responsibility\u201d. The declaration was the culmination of seven months of work to renew long-stalled talks that began in October when Ankara offered Ocalan an unexpected olive branch. Although key players in the process had initially mooted a possible early release for Ocalan, who has spent more than 25 years serving life in solitary confinement, it was unlikely he would leave Imrali prison island. \u201cThe conditions of his detention will be eased.. meetings with the (pro-Kurdish party) DEM and his family will also be more frequent,\u201d an AKP source told the pro-government Turkiye daily. \u201cOcalan himself has said he did not want to leave Imrali,\u201d he said. Were he to be released, Ocalan\u2019s life would likely come under immediate threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"