Kurdish PKK declares ceasefire with Turkey after jailed leader's call
- The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Saturday announced a ceasefire with Turkey, two days after its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan urged the group to disarm and disband.
- Post By Nevenka Nikolik
- 11:11, 1 March, 2025

Istanbul, 1 March 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Saturday announced a ceasefire with Turkey, two days after its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan urged the group to disarm and disband.
The ceasefire, effective immediately, stipulates that PKK forces will refrain from armed action unless attacked, the ANF news site reported, known as close to PKK.
The group however cited Öcalan must be able to "live and work under free conditions" for the call to be successfully implemented. The PKK said it is prepared to convene a congress as Öcalan requested, but insisted he must personally lead the meeting.
There was no immediate reaction from Turkish authorities on Saturday. On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the PKK leader's appeal for the group to disarm and disband marks the beginning of a "new phase."
There is now an "opportunity for a historic step," Erdoğan said.
The last time a ceasefire was declared was in 2013, but the peace process failed in the summer of 2015. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the EU and the US.
Since early 1980s, the PKK has been fighting for autonomy within Turkey. Tens of thousands have died in the conflict. According to their own statements, the PKK has now moved away from the demand for an independent state.
Öcalan, aged 75, has been imprisoned in an island prison off Istanbul since 1999.
Photo: EPA