Learn About Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Decision To Dissolve Itself
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistane), a Kurdish militant political organisation and armed guerrilla group, has laid down arms and announced its dissolution in Turkey. The report was shared by Firat News Agency on Monday, a news agency close to the group.
The PKK has fought against Turkey and its ruling establishment for over 40 years. PKK has announced that it plans to disband and disarm in a move promising an end to decades of conflict with Turkiye, as part of a peace initiative. The move is seen as a major step towards peace and stability in the region.
PKK has represented the almost a century-old Kurdish ethnic conflict in the West Asia/Middle East region in Turkey. Kurds, which is one of the largest ethnic groups of West Asia, with an estimated population of 30 to 45 million, are spread in Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq.
PKK ideology combines revolutionary Marxism Leninism with Kurdish ethno-nationalism, which aimed for a state-level Kurdish independency. Reportedly, earlier, PKK resorted to armed struggle for independent Kurdistan, however, later shifted to Kurdish rights within Turkey.
Kurdish Struggle For Their Rights
Kurds have been fighting for their cultural, linguistic, and ethnic rights to be recognised by the respective governments, which were allegedly being denied in the pretext of Turkification or Arabisation of the populations.
Due to their distinct ethnic identity and political aspirations, Kurds have historically endured persecution and discrimination, first at the hands of medieval kingdoms and more recently under the jurisdiction of their current separate resident governments. Despite being the region’s fourth-largest ethnic group, Kurds have long been split because of their loyalty to particular tribes. Around more than forty Kurdish principalities existed in the Middle Ages.
Kurds, as sub-state actors, seek a better life that includes more autonomy and more rights, at least for now. To attain autonomy, Kurds in different parts of the region tried to establish autonomous regions, if not independent states.
PJAK was successful in creating an independent region in Mahabad in 1946, and later, KDP and PUK in 1992 were successful in making the Kurdish Autonomous Region (KRG) in Iraq, and in 2013, Syrian Kurds were successful in declaring Rojava as an autonomous region. In Turkey, the PKK was also fighting for the fundamental rights of Kurds and was accused of the coup in 2016.
Respective governments have handled the Kurdish aspirations with force and negligence. The Kurds demand the recognition of their rights and freedom from discrimination and consider independence as their ultimate goal. However, countries perceive the Kurdish political struggle as a direct threat to their sovereignty, internal security and territorial integrity.
PKK Dissolution In Turkey
PKK held its 12th extraordinary Congress in response of Abdullah Ocalan’s call for Peace and Democratic Society’s in February this year. However, PKK Congress called it a new beginnings with new initiatives and opportunities. The 12th Extraordinary Congress of the PKK ended with the slogans ‘Bijî Serok Apo’ (Long Live Leader Apo), ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ (Woman, Life, Freedom), and ‘Insisting on Humanity is Insisting on Socialism.’
PKK announced to achieve its historical mission and decided to dissolve the organisation.
The announcement signs towards the potential end of a conflict that have plaged the region, spilling over into Northern Iraq and Syria.
PKK was listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkiye and Western countries. In last few year, PKK held limited isolated attacks inside Turkiye as the military pushed its fighters across the mountaious border.
It is argued that PKK’s decision could boost NATO member Turkey’s political and economic stability and encourage ease of tension with neighbouring Iraq and also in Syria, where Kurdish forces are allied with US against Bashar al-Assad.
