Laying Down Arms for Peace

Agencies

Imrali delegation with Abdullah Ocalan.

Following Abdullah Ocalan's message calling on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to lay down arms and dissolve itself, the PKK announced a ceasefire on Saturday, 1 March 2025, and stressed that "the decision comes to implement Ocalan's call for peace.

“In order to pave the way for the implementation of leader Apo’s (nickname of Abdullah Ocalan) call for peace and democratic society, we are declaring to the public a ceasefire effective from today, 27 February 2025," the PKK Executive Committee said in a statement.

“We agree with the content of the call as it is and we say that we will follow and implement it,” the committee said.

“None of our forces will take any military action unless attacked,” it added.

The committee described Ocalan's message as a "Statement for  New Era," stressing that "the successful implementation of this step is extremely important."

Furthermore, the statement said: "The process has started from Kurdistan and the Middle East and will significantly affect democratic development and free administration in the area and globally. As such, everyone must bear responsibility and must fulfil their roles in this regard."

"We are working to implement the message, but the success of the process requires a democratic political environment within a legal framework," the statement added. 

"The message is of great importance, and its implementation is no less important," it emphasised.

In a message announced last week by the Imrali delegation, the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan called on the PKK to lay down arms and disband following attempts to start a new peace process between the PKK and Türkiye.

Ocalan said in a message which was read by Ahmet Türk, a member of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) delegation (Imrali delegation) that visited the Ocalan in the Imrali prison several times: "The call made by Mr. Devlet Bahceli, along with the will expressed by Mr. President, and the positive responses from the other political parties towards the known call, has created an environment in which I am making a call for the laying down of arms, and I take on the historical responsibility of this call."

As a move towards bringing about peace and putting a stop to the conflict, the message garnered significant attention in Kurdistan on a local, regional, and global level, particularly in the White House.

In recent months, the DEM Party has led peace negotiations between Ankara and the PKK. Earlier in February, a DEM Party delegation visited the Kurdistan Region and met with prominent Kurdish leaders in both Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. The delegation had previously met with the majority of Turkish political parties to share Ocalan's message.

Click here to read Ocalan's full message... 



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