Implications of Kurdish PKK militia declaring ceasefire for the Middle East
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Hashim Sheikh - . March 1, 2025
- . Update: March 1, 2025 3:05 pm
The Kurdish PKK militia has declared an immediate ceasefire, paying attention to jailed leader Ocalan’s recent call for disarmament, in a major step in the direction of ending a brutally long insurgency against the Turkish state.
If accepted by Turkey, this declaration is going to have broad implications for the Middle East, besides ending a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people since the PKK – currently based in the mountains of northern Iraq – launched its armed insurgency in 1984.
The conflict featuring the PKK and Turkey has had serious effects on the country and its neighbours. For almost 50 years, both entities have been sharing a challenging relationship. Ocalan founded the PKK back in 1978.
Much of the fighting has focused on the group’s desire to establish an independent Kurdish state in the country’s southeast. But in recent years, the PKK has called for more autonomy in Turkey instead, reported CNN.
Kurds are the biggest minority in Turkey, making up 15 to 20% of the country’s population, according to Minority Rights Group International. In 1999, Turkish authorities captured Ocalan. He has been sentenced in Turkey to life in prison for treason.
