Following Abdullah Öcalan’s renewed request, Kurdistan Workers’ Party members threw their weapons into a cauldron and set it ablaze in a ceremony in northern Iraq; this stage of the disarmament process is set to end in September (AP)
Abdullah Öcalan Announces “Voluntary” End of PKK’s Armed Struggle With Turkey
In its place, he called for a transition to a “phase of democratic politics and law” (Reuters)
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the group’s insurgency, which dates back to 1980; the PKK disbanded in May of this year at Öcalan’s request (NYT)
PKK Militants to Begin Handing Over Weapons
According to NTV, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan ordered all Kurdish PKK militants to begin to hand over weapons in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, on Friday as a part of its peace process with Turkey; the disarmament process will likely take between two and five months (Reuters)
Kurdish Insurgent Group Disbands
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced today it will disband and disarm after forty years of insurgency against Turkey, saying it has “completed its historic mission”; the group had announced a unilateral ceasefire against Turkey in March (Politico)
The conflict has hampered economic development in southeast Turkey for decades (Reuters)
Next steps for disarmament were not immediately clear; the PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and Western allies (Al Jazeera)
Pro-Kurdish Political Party Calls for Legislation to Enable Disarmament
The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) urged Turkey’s parliament to support a legal pathway to revitalize peace talks and allow Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) founder Abdullah Ocalan to freely communicate; this comes after a recent meeting between DEM Party members and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which the DEM described as “constructive” (Reuters)
Erdogan to Meet With Pro-Kurdish DEM Party to Discuss Peace
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that he will receive the delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) on Thursday, April 10, in hopes of revitalizing peace talks between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK); the DEM Party has worked to mediate peace talks between the two camps since March after the PKK and its founder Abdullah Ocalan announced a ceasefire (Rudaw)
Kurdistan Workers’ Party Declares Cease-Fire With Turkey Following Order From Abdullah Öcalan to Disarm
Their clashes with Turkish authorities date back more than forty years; the PKK said it was ready to attend a conference to dissolve their group if Öcalan could “personally direct and lead it” (France24)
Jailed PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan Calls on Militants to Disarm
Ocalan called for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to dissolve itself and end its armed struggle with Turkey, though he also asked the Turkish government to promote self-expression and protect the rights of ethnic minorities (Reuters)
Doing so could mean an end to a more than four-decade-long conflict with Turkey that has killed an estimated forty thousand people; talks with Turkish politicians preceded Öcalan’s announcement, but it was not clear what Kurdish fighters would get in exchange for disarmament (FT)
However, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced that Ocalan’s words only apply to the PKK and “is nothing related” to its own coalition in Syria; Iraq’s PKK headquarters have yet to respond to Ocalan’s appeal (Guardian)
Oil Exports from Kurdistan to Resume at 185,000 Barrels Per Day If Turkey Approves
Baghdad hopes for Turkish approval within two days to resume crude oil exports from Kurdistan by later this week (Bloomberg)
In anticipation of the resumption and new supply of Kurdish exports, along with U.S.-Russia peace talks, crude oil prices dropped (Economic Times)
Turkey Does Not Confirm Iraq’s Plans to Resume Oil Exports from Kurdistan
Turkey’s Energy Ministry stated that Iraq has yet to communicate its plans with Turkey, which would require the Iraq-Turkey pipeline to end the two-year embargo on oil exports from Kurdistan (Reuters)
Turkey Detains 282 Suspected Members of the PKK
Turkish police led the five-day series of raids across the country, identifying those with organizational and financial ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) (VOA)
Turkey Continues Removal of Pro-Kurdish Mayors
The Turkish government most recently removed a mayor of the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party in the country’s eastern Van province, bringing the total number of removals to ten—eight of which belonging to the DEM Party (Reuters)
Turkey Exploring Possibility of Peace Talks With the Kurds
As the United States negotiates the future of U.S.-backed Kurdish forces with the new Syrian government, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan views the regional changes as an opportunity to extinguish Kurdish nationalism in his country; Kurdish people are hopeful for a genuine chance at reconciliation and greater cultural autonomy, but are cautious of the Turkish government’s promises (Bloomberg)
Iraq Parliament Approves Subsidies of Oil Exports from Kurdistan
The subsidies aim to alleviate economic pressure and salary delays in Kurdistan and mark a step towards ending a two-year halt on its oil exports by Turkey; the new budgetary amendment provides subsidies at $16 per oil barrel, doubling the amount of a previously-rejected proposal by the Kurdistan Regional Government (Reuters)
Turkish Forces Kill Thirteen Kurdish Fighters in Syria and Two in Iraq
Some of those killed in Syria belong to a militia with which the United States has cooperated in its efforts against the self-declared Islamic State; Ankara has voiced hopes that Washington will reverse that support under Trump(Reuters)
Two Iraqi Border Guards Killed in Attack by PKK Militants Near Turkish Border
Fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) shot and killed the border guards after the latter denied their passage through the border checkpoint in Zakho, Kurdistan (Reuters)
Turkey Bombs Kurdish Targets in Iraq, Syria After Attack on Defense Firm
The targeted strikes on a separatist Kurdish group in Iraq and Syria came hours after an attack on an aerospace contractor in Turkey’s defense sector that killed five people (WSJ)
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Turkey, but Ankara blamed the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)(AP)
Turkey Resumes Patrols in Northeast Syria
Turkey’s defense ministry announced that Russian-Turkish joint ground patrols targeting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are set to resume in northeast Syria after being suspended last year due to security concerns (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister: Air Strikes “Neutralized” Seventeen Members of PKK in Iraq
Ankara considers the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) a terrorist group, as do the United States and European Union (Reuters)
Turkish Drone Strikes Vehicle Believed to Belong to Banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party
A PKK-aligned media source said two journalists, a bystander, and a driver were wounded in Northern Iraq’s Sinjar District; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has threatened a major offensive in the Kurdish-populated part of Iraq in recent months (Al-Monitor)
Kurds in Syria Anounce Second Postponement of Planned Election
The election was set for Monday but delayed the date to August; it would have been the first local vote since the territorial defeat of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (Al-Monitor)
Turkey had called the elections a threat to its territorial integrity and the United States advised that they were ill-timed (Al-Monitor)
Turkey Targets Kurdish Militants in northern Iraq, Syria
Turkish forces killed seventeen Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria, the Turkish defense ministry said today (Reuters)
Ankara has recently sought more cooperation from Iraq in fighting such militants; earlier this year, Baghdad named the Kurdistan Workers’ Party a terrorist organization (Reuters)
Turkey Targets Northern Iraq, Kills PKK Members
According to the Turkish defense ministry, sixteen members of the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) were “neutralized” during the airstrike operation (Reuters)
Turkish Foreign Minister to Meet Hamas Officials in Qatar
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will reportedly meet with Hamas officials in Qatar to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and ceasefire negotiations, KAN reported on Tuesday (Jerusalem Post)
Turkey Imposes Export Restrictions on Israel Until Gaza Ceasefire
Turkey’s Trade Ministry said it imposed restrictions on exports from fifty-four different categories—including aluminum, iron, fertilizer, steel products, cement, and jet fuel—after Israel denied a Turkish government request to airdrop humanitarian aid to Gaza (NYT). “This decision will remain in place until Israel declares a cease-fire in Gaza and allows the flow of a sufficient amount of uninterrupted aid to the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said in a statement (Times of Israel). Turkey’s exports to Israel were worth $5.4 billion in 2023, or 2.1 percent of its total exports, according to official data (Reuters)