Kurdish rebel leader urges group to laydown weapons

ANKARA (QJ) The leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, who is imprisoned in Turkey, has issued a historic call to his party, urging them to lay down their arms, disband, and end the 40-year conflict with the Turkish state.

A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey visited Öcalan on Thursday on the island prison where he has been held since 1999. Following the visit, they conveyed his message to Istanbul.

“I call for the laying down of arms, and I take historical responsibility for this call,” Öcalan stated in his message.

“Your [party’s] congress should convene and make a decision. All groups must lay down their arms, and the PKK must dissolve,” Öcalan said, as conveyed by the delegation.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

Speaking about the developments, Efkan Ala, Deputy Chairman of the ruling AK Party, stated that Turkey would “break free from this burden” if the PKK disarms and dissolves.

In the first official response from the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ala indicated that the government expects the PKK to comply with Öcalan’s call.