Following Öcalan's call, Turkiye demands PKK, SDF lay down arms

Shafaq News/ On Friday, Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson, Ömer Çelik, reiterated the demand that all Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria lay down their arms.

This statement follows a call from Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), urging militants to abandon violence. Çelik confirmed that the plea also applies to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led armed group.

Speaking from his cell on Imralı Island in the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul, Öcalan called on the PKK to disarm and dissolve. This move, if embraced by PKK fighters, could end the decades-long insurgency that has lasted for over 40 years and have profound regional consequences.

Öcalan, though widely reviled in Turkiye for initiating the conflict in 1984, remains a respected figure in Kurdish political movements. His latest appeal came four months after a similar proposal by an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Both Erdoğan and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) have expressed support for efforts aimed at ending the conflict, which has claimed over 40,000 lives, reshaped Turkish politics, and caused widespread destruction in the country's southeast.

The appeal has also been welcomed by Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, the United States, and other international actors.