Jailed PKK leader announces group’s disbandment

Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned former leader of the terrorist PKK group, has announced the organisation’s disbandment in a video message from the Turkish prison island of İmralı, calling the move a "historic step" toward peace and democracy.

Öcalan referred to his February 27, 2025 appeal, stating that he remains committed to its goals, Caliber.Az reports, citing Turkish media.

He described the PKK’s 12th congress—reportedly focused on the group’s dissolution—as a historic moment.

“I consider your comprehensive and accurate positive response to this call at the 12th PKK Congress, devoted to disbandment, to be historic,” Öcalan said.

He noted that efforts are ongoing to move toward more practical, concrete, and decisive steps in the direction of disarmament. “The PKK, having abandoned its aim of statehood and core war strategy, has ceased to exist,” he declared.

Öcalan also highlighted that recent developments in the region underscore the urgency and importance of this historic move.

“Let us carry out the upcoming phase in line with my call, the congress resolutions, and my proposals, and move forward based on this success,” he added.

Öcalan, imprisoned since 1999, first called for the PKK’s disarmament and dissolution on February 27, 2025, in a letter read by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party in Istanbul. Describing the PKK as a product of 20th-century violence and obsolete due to democratic advances in Türkiye and the collapse of real socialism, he urged the group to convene a congress to dissolve and integrate into democratic politics.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US, EU, and UK, responded with a unilateral ceasefire on March 1, 2025, and held its 12th Congress in May, formally announcing its intent to disband.

Last week, Turkish media announced that the PKK fighters in northern Iraq would begin handing over weapons, with a symbolic ceremony planned for July 11. Türkiye is pushing for a concrete legal framework to oversee this process. 

Previous reports said the first group of 50 PKK members is expected to surrender their weapons in the northern Iraqi city of Duhok under the supervision of Turkish, Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials.

By Khagan Isayev