• Ceasefire would have regional implications

-Could also provide domestic boost for Erdogan

  • Conflict has killed thousands and caused severe economic damage

    • Previous efforts to end the insurgency have failed

March 1 (Reuters) - The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group declared an immediate ceasefire on Saturday, a news agency close to it said, heeding jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan’s disarmament call, in a major step toward ending a 40-year insurgency.

Ocalan on Thursday called on the PKK to lay down its arms and dissolve, a move that President Tayyip Erdogan’s government and the opposition pro-Kurdish DEM party voiced support for.

The ceasefire could have wide-ranging implications for the region if it succeeds in ending a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people since the PKK - now based in the mountains of northern Iraq - launched its armed insurgency in 1984.

  • rhythmisaprancer
    6•2 days ago

    Wow, this seems pretty unexpected. I wonder what prompted this beyond that October call?

    • @[email protected]English
      10•2 days ago

      I read up on it. I think the main thing was the many Kurds, especially Turkish Kurds, don’t want to fight Turkey anymore. The PKK had a lot of trouble recruiting people. And many Kurdish leaders are actually allied with Erdogan. I believe Erdogan has two Kurdish ministers.

      But with their autonomy in Syria and Iraq, the hardliners were still holding out and hopeful.

      However, in Syria, Turkey dealt them quite some hard blows these past years and got the US under Trump to abandon them. The final piece is that the new Syrian regime is allied with Turkey and Trump is back in office.

      So they basically have a choice, stop fighting or look forward to years of fighting against bayraktar drones.

      Of course, I am sure Erdogan put in a lot of deal sweeteners that we don’t know about. At the end of the day, Turkey and Syria both need peace with the Kurds for their own stability and growth. And the Kurds have significant leverage, even if independence is not in the cards.

      • rhythmisaprancer
        2•1 day ago

        This makes it much clearer and ties some separate events together that I hadn’t thought about, thanks! I really hope this provides the Kurds with peace, stability, and growth as well.

      • @gedaliyahEnglish
        3•2 days ago

        Well put. This is excellent news nonetheless. Let’s all hope it is a lasting peace.

    • @jeffwEnglish
      4•2 days ago

      Unexpected a few months ago, but not after recent events. When your leader calls for your movement to end, it can be hard to keep going

    • @[email protected]English
      3•2 days ago

      Guess: the geopolitical situation.

      Reasoning (much speculation on my part):

      • PKK is often an excuse for Turkish attacks and proxy attacks
      • the tactics which PKK has used have not proven effective, it has become and stayed isolated
      • with Trump in power, Syrian Kurds cannot rely on US support and Erdogan is less inhibited, PKK may become an excuse for Turkey to attack them
      • with Bashar al Assad gone, there is a possibility of negotiating a tolerable position in a new Syria, and Erdogan is less inhibited because of this too - his regional competitor is gone
      • better to remove the excuse for attacks and explore other options