Terror organization PKK declares ceasefire

ISTANBUL

DEM Party delegation members release a statement from the jailed leader of the terorrist PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, center at the background photo, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025

PKK terrorist organization on Saturday declared a ceasefire after a landmark call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan urging the group to disband.

"In order to pave the way for the implementation of leader Apo's call for peace and democratic society, we are declaring a ceasefire effective from today," the PKK said in a statement, referring to Öcalan.

Alongside the ceasefire, the PKK announced its plan to initiate direct negotiations, emphasizing the necessity of Öcalan’s involvement in overseeing the extraordinary congress he had previously called for.

The group did not provide details on the conditions or framework for the proposed talks but highlighted Öcalan’s critical role in the process.

Öcalan's historic statement was read by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) at a televised event on Feb. 27.

"As in the case with any modern community and party whose existence has not been abolished by force, would voluntarily do, convene your congress and make a decision; all groups must lay their arms and PKK must dissolve itself," Öcalan was quoted as saying.

“The collapse of real socialism in the 1990s for internal reasons and the dissolution of identity denial in the country, as well as developments in freedom of expression, led to PKK's lack of meaning and excessive repetition."

The DEM Party's three subsequent visits to Öcalan in two months were the first since members of the pro-Kurdish party’s predecessor, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), met with him in April 2015.

His engagement with politicians became possible after Bahçeli invited him to come to the parliament to renounce terror and disband PKK.

Erdoğan backed the appeal as a "historic window of opportunity."

PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.