Armed group PKK, which fights against Türkiye’s government, begins process of disarmament

PKK members arrive at the Iraqi Kurdisting site on July 11, 2025. PKK via Reuters the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas begins on Friday (11) in Iraq their disarmament, after advertising in May the dissolution of the group after more than four decades of armed struggle against the Turkish state. The group, considered a terrorist by Turkey and its Western allies, began armed actions against Ankara in 1984 to create a Kurdish state, in a conflict that left more than 40,000 dead since. Delivery of the first contingent of arms will take place at a ceremony in Suleimaniya, in the region of Iraqi Kurdistan, border with Turkey and where the Kurdish combatants take refuge in the mountains. After the announcement of a public ceremony, the authorities changed their minds and restricted access to a limited number of guests for security reasons. Among the guests are members of the Turkish Party Pro-Curdo DEM, which acted as a mediator between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan, and the Turkey government. Through the DEM, the PKK founder, arrested since 1999, summoned in February the end of hostilities and the beginning of negotiations for the guerrilla dissolution, announced in May. The process also played a prominent role of Devlet Bahçeli, ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and leader of the MHP nationalist party, who a few months ago invited Kurdish combatants to renounce armed struggle and “attend to express themselves in Parliament.” ‘The power of politics’ on Wednesday, in a video message, Öcalan or “APO” (uncle), as it is called by his followers, confirmed the imminent disarmament and stressed that it would happen “quickly.” “I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons. And I ask you to put this principle into practice,” he said. Erdogan also recently expressed the confidence that “this promising process is successfully completed as quickly as possible, without obstacles or risk of sabotage.” Authorities have not announced the number of Kurdish combatants who will participate in the ceremony and the type of weapons they will deliver. “As a gesture of goodwill, a number of PKK combatants who have fought Turkish forces in recent years will destroy or burning their weapons,” a Kurdish commander told anonymity to AFP. PKK commanders require the release of their leader Öcalan to accelerate disarmament and dissolution. His situation “affects the process and slows him down,” said Mustafa Karasu, a party leader. But “APO”, which remains detained in the prison of Imbali Island, near Istanbul, does not ask to be released and wants to detach the peace process of his personal destiny. Öcalan “contradicts the conditions imposed by the party, which demanded his liberation so that he could make the peace process,” said Boris James, historian of Turkish movements. The researcher also points to a possible problem due to the absence of “a third actor to ensure the integrity of the process.” “There is still a very strong distrust between PKK and the Turkish state. And the state gave little guarantees to the former combatants.” In fact, the former combatants have denounced that they are still the target of bombing of Turkish forces against their positions in Iraq, despite the process of peaceful peace.

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