ANKARA — The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, has announced that it plans to lay down arms and dissolve itself, according to a report by Turkey’s state broadcaster, TRT.
Founded in 1978 as a leftist political and armed movement advocating for Kurdish autonomy, the PKK has been at the center of one of the longest-running conflicts in the region. The group has been responsible for numerous attacks against Turkish military and state targets and is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
TRT did not provide further details on the timing or conditions of the group’s reported decision, and the PKK has yet to release a formal statement through its own channels. The report comes amid long-standing efforts by Turkish authorities to end the insurgency through both military operations and intermittent negotiations.
If confirmed, the PKK’s disbandment would mark a historic turning point in Turkey’s decades-long conflict with Kurdish militants, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and deeply shaped domestic security and politics.
