Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) founder and leader Abdullah Ocalan has called on his organization to lay down arms and dissolve, a historic step towards long-term peace in Turkey, Syria, and the wider region.

“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 the PKK must dissolve itself,” Ocalan proclaimed in a statement read out by a delegation of the pro-Kurdish, pro-peace DEM Party on February 27th.

This call opens the door for a political resolution to Turkey’s ‘Kurdish question,’ the struggle for the status of Kurdish civil and political rights that has impacted the country for a century. An estimated twenty million Kurds live in Turkey. Since the founding of the modern Turkish Republic in 1923, Kurdish language, culture and identity have been suppressed. Successive Turkish governments have responded to Kurdish demands for greater rights and self-governance with repression and, sometimes, military force.

The current armed conflict began in 1984, when the PKK carried out its first actions against Turkish security forces in the country’s southeast. It has cost trillions of dollars and over 40,000 lives, displaced millions, and destabilized Turkey’s neighbors and international partnerships.

Today, Ocalan believes, a different route is necessary. His statement proclaimed that the next step for Kurds and Turks is legal, democratic politics within Turkey’s borders.

At the press conference, DEM MP Sirri Sureyya Onder said Ocalan had told the delegation that “undoubtedly, in practice, laying down arms and the PKK’s dissolution require the recognition of democratic politics and the legal dimension.”

Turkey’s pursuit of a military solution to its domestic Kurdish question has also driven its aggression in Syria. Turkey refuses to distinguish between the PKK and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of Kurdish, Arab and Christian armed groups established in 2015 to fight against ISIS alongside the U.S.-led Global Coalition. In 2018 and 2019, Turkey invaded and occupied Syrian Kurdish regions on this pretext, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and threatening the ISIS fight.

SDF Commander in Chief Mazlum Abdi, who has consistently advocated for a return to the peace process in Turkey, called Ocalan’s statement “positive” in a February 27th press conference.

“It is a call for ending the war, ending the fight, and starting peaceful political activities within Turkey. We think that this is a historical juncture to spread democracy inside Turkey and move things from armed struggle to a peace process,” Abdi said.

He confirmed that Ocalan’s call was “only for the PKK” and did not apply to the SDF, but that he believed it would have a positive impact on northern Syria by removing any justification for Turkish military action.

A Historic Opportunity

These are welcome developments for the United States., its partners and allies, and the international community. A political solution to the Turkish-Kurdish conflict will address a roadblock in Turkey’s relations with the U.S. and Europe; pave the way for a post-Assad settlement in Syria that effectively integrates the SDF and DAANES; curb displacement and migration; and open up economic opportunities in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and beyond.

The first international reactions have confirmed this optimism.

“It’s a significant development and we hope that it will help assuage our Turkish allies about US counter-ISIS partners in northeast Syria. We believe it will help bring peace to this troubled region,” the White House National Security Council said.

“We encourage all parties to engage in a peaceful and constructive process that ensures security, stability and respect for the rule of law…The UK remains committed to supporting efforts that reduce conflict and promote stability both in Turkey and across the wider region,” said a spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office.

“The Secretary-General welcomes this important development.  This represents a glimmer of hope, which would lead to the resolution of a long-standing conflict,” said a United Nations spokesperson.

What Comes Next

Ocalan’s statement marks the beginning of a political process, not the end of one. To help bring about the positive results it wishes to see from this process, the international community should take action to ensure that the government of Turkey and the Kurdish movement can move forward constructively. To that end, relevant steps include:

• Ceasefire Support and Monitoring: A long-term, bilateral ceasefire is an essential prerequisite for peace. The PKK will not be able to physically convene a congress and declare its disarmament and dissolution without one. Similarly, Turkish lawmakers and experts may be reluctant to engage on a legal framework for the process if violence continues. The U.S. or other Coalition countries with experiences with mediation between Turkey and Kurdish groups should urge the declaration of and adherence to a bilateral ceasefire and offer monitoring to enhance its credibility.
• Staying the Course in Syria: In Syria, Global Coalition countries should continue their support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), maintain existing ceasefires, and redouble their efforts to ensure the fair and just integration of the SDF and Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) into the transitional government through a political settlement. Progress in Turkey should make it easier for these states to be more open and strong in their support for key SDF demands, like strong local government and constitutional protections for minority rights. It should also lead to a decrease in Turkish threats against Syrian Kurds and pressure on the Syrian transitional government to reject these Kurdish demands.
• Legal and Technical Assistance: With Ocalan, the pro-Kurdish political movement, and major Turkish parties all calling for a stronger legal basis for negotiations, the international community could offer support for a parliamentary commission, the creation of new laws, and other legal measures that may be taken. Legislatures and parliamentarians could be engaged, as well as legal experts from outside of government.
• Empowering Regional Solutions: The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has taken on a leading role in the process. Its positive relationships with both Turkey and Kurdish parties and communities, and its interest in an end to conflict on and within its borders, make it well-placed to keep doing so. The U.S. and other interested countries can offer support to the KRI in its mediation efforts and in implementing other forms of support for the peace process that it may choose to offer. They could also encourage other regional partners, such as the Arab states that have engaged in SDF-Damascus relations, to engage.

(Photo: Levi Clancy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)