Erdogan Ally Demands Disarmament of All PKK-Affiliated Groups

ANKARA, 9 March 2025 (BSS/AFP) – A senior ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has insisted that all factions linked to the Kurdish militant group PKK must also disarm as part of an historic ceasefire agreement with Ankara.

Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), called last month for his organisation to dissolve and end over four decades of armed conflict with Turkey.

However, Turkish authorities have made it clear that they expect all PKK fighters, including those within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to disarm. The SDF, largely composed of Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters, responded to Öcalan’s appeal on 27 February but stated that it did not apply to their forces.

“The PKK terrorist organisation and its affiliated groups must immediately and unconditionally lay down their arms,” declared Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the nationalist MHP party.

Bahçeli, who has played a pivotal role in Ankara’s negotiations with the PKK, had previously extended an unexpected peace initiative, provided that Öcalan renounced violence.

“It is entirely contradictory for the YPG and other similar terrorist factions to claim exemption from this directive… Such a stance undermines the authority of the organisation’s leadership,” Bahçeli asserted in a formal statement.

Following Öcalan’s appeal, the PKK announced a ceasefire, pledging that “none of our forces will engage in armed operations unless attacked”.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched three major military incursions into northern Syria to neutralise PKK-linked militants, whom Ankara perceives as a national security threat along its southern frontier.

The PKK, categorised as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, has been engaged in an insurgency since 1984. Initially, its objective was to establish an independent Kurdish state. Kurds comprise approximately 20 per cent of Turkey’s 85 million-strong population.

Multiple peace efforts have been attempted since Öcalan’s imprisonment in 1999 to halt the ongoing violence, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

Background Context:
Turkey’s crackdown on Kurdish militant groups has long been a contentious issue in regional geopolitics. While Ankara views the PKK and its affiliates as existential threats, Western nations, particularly the United States, have provided support to the SDF in the fight against the Islamic State (IS). This has frequently strained Turkey’s relations with its NATO allies.

Additionally, past ceasefire agreements with the PKK have faltered due to political shifts and military escalations. The latest development raises questions about whether Ankara and Kurdish factions can finally reach a sustainable resolution to a decades-long conflict.