Will PKK leader Ocalan’s call for group to dissolve end Turkiye conflict?

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which was founded and led by Abdullah Ocalan, has issued a statement from prison inviting the organization to dissolve and lay down its weapons in its struggle against the Turkish state.

The group, designated a “terrorist” group by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union, has fought an armed insurgency against Turkiye since 1984, in which more than 40, 000 people have been killed.

The Turkish military has carried out operations in the country’s southeast and across the border in Syria and Iraq since the group’s peace process ended ten years ago.

However, in recent months, there have been increased chances for reconciliation after Devlet Bahceli, the Nationalist Movement Party’s (MHP) leader and ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, publicly requested Ocalan’s release in exchange for his release.

What did Ocalan say?

The organization should lay down its arms and dissolve itself in order to put an end to the decades-old conflict with Turkiye, according to the PKK leader.

Ocalan claimed in a statement read by pro-Kurdish DEM Party members that the PKK was established in response to a Turkish state that had imposed restrictions on Kurdish rights but that freedoms had increased since then, and that the organization had “reached the end of its lifespan, making its dissolution required.”

Framing the PKK as a product of the Cold War, Ocalan’s statement continued: “The PKK was born in the 20th century, in the most violent epoch of the history of humanity, amidst the two world wars, under the shadow of the experience of real socialism and the cold war around the world”.

Ocalan’s statement on its own does not constitute a formal dissolution of the PKK; instead, he refers to a “congress” that would need to be convened to decide. Ocalan, however, holds the most clout among the PKK, and the organization adheres to the jailed leader’s political theory.

In a show of respect for Ocalan’s words, a video of his statement was broadcast on large screens throughout southeast Turkiye, the country’s traditional heartland for Kurdish people.

What has the response been from Turkiye?

The Turkish response has been positive thus far in the wake of an ongoing campaign to persuade Ocalan to support calls for peace.

Speaking immediately after the statement was read, Efkan Ala, deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) said: “If the terrorist organisation evaluates this call, lays down its weapons, disbands, it will free Turkiye from its shackles”.

But Ala added that Turkiye expected the PKK to comply with Ocalan’s call, and sources told the Daily Sabah that the PKK would “bear the consequences” if it did not “heed Ocalan’s call”.

What is the PKK and who is Ocalan?

Ocalan, who is in his 70s, is the founding leader and ideological figurehead of the PKK. He was imprisoned on an island close to Istanbul in 1999 and is currently serving a life sentence in solitary confinement.

Ocalan, a visionary figure, has been credited with leading the PKK’s transformation from a Marxist-Leninist insurgent group to a wider movement for democratic confederalism, a theory he developed to advance community-based democracy beyond the nation-state, as well as by many Kurdish fighters and activists.

The PKK launched an armed conflict against the Turkish state in 1984 with a Marxist-Leninist and Kurdish nationalist ideology in the 1970s.

Ocalan and the PKK continue to have a significant influence in the area, with his writings continuing to influence Kurdish political thought.

This latest initiative, if successful, could prove to be one of the “most transformative events that have happened in the Middle East”, Galip Dalay of Chatham House told Al Jazeera.

Does this mean that the PKK-Turkish conflict is over?

Ocalan’s words are well-known among the PKK and its supporters, and to ignore them would pose risks for the military leadership of the PKK and, arguably, make them accountable for any conflict escalation.

But while Ocalan remains a revered figure, the PKK’s leadership is not monolithic. With its leader in jail for decades, rival factions and splinter groups, such as the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) have emerged, which might not easily accept his call to disarm.

The Turkish government’s statements over the past few months demonstrate the existence of a push to put an end to a conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands.

In Turkiye, the PKK and its affiliates have carried out numerous attacks, some of which have resulted in the deaths of civilians. Most recently, in October, an attack claimed by the PKK killed five people at the headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) near Ankara.

In southeast Turkiye, Syria, and Iraq, Turkiye’s military forces have engaged in operations against the PKK and its affiliates, and some of its actions have drawn criticism from human rights organizations.

Will the region be impacted in any way by this?

In Syria, Iraq, and Iran, the PKK has affiliates and allied organizations.

In Syria, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkiye says is the local wing of the PKK, forms the bulk of the United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Northeastern Syria is under the control of the SDF, and Turkiye has launched numerous military campaigns against the rebel group to avert Turkish-Syrian rule.

The PKK has bases in northern Iraq, in areas administered by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. Turkiye has repeatedly bombed those locations, and has its own bases in northern Iraq, which has caused tensions with the Iraqi government.

Source: Aljazeera