The PKK has announced a ceasefire and pledged to follow leader Abdullah Ocalan’s call for disarmament, emphasizing the need for legal recognition. Ocalan had urged the PKK to dissolve and integrate with the state and society, calling it a historic responsibility. PKK’s disappearance will double the pressure on Syrian Kurdish militia to follow suit and potentially precipitate negotiations on a new Constitution in Turkey to grant Kurds equal citizenship, among their other demands. Yet, Mazlum Abdi, Syrian SDF’s leader has ignored Ocalan’s call, complicating progress in this interlinked chain of events.
The PKK Executive Committee’s statement affirmed its support for Ocalan’s Feb. 27 call, and vowed to fulfill its requirements, according to reporting by the Fırat News Agency.
The PKK’s statement aligned with an additional note that Ocalan sent to the İmralı Delegation, which was not included in his letter.
“We fully endorse the content of this call and pledge to comply with and implement its requirements from our side. However, we emphasize that for success, a suitable environment for democratic politics and legal recognition must also be ensured,” the statement said.
The PKK announced that it declared a ceasefire as of March 1, and that “unless attacked, no armed actions will be carried out by (their) forces.”
“The practical implementation of disarmament can only be realized under the direct leadership of Leader Apo [Ocalan],” continued the statement.
The PKK also argued that a safe environment must be established for its congress to convene and that Ocalan must personally oversee the congress.
The İmralı Delegation had announced Ocalan’s message following their third meeting with him at İmralı Prison, where he has been held since 1999.
In his message, Ocalan made a call for disarmament, saying he was “taking on the historic responsibility for it.”
“As every contemporary community and party that has not been forcibly dismantled would do voluntarily, convene your congress to integrate with the state and society, make a decision, all groups should lay down arms, and the PKK should dissolve itself,” asserted the leader, claiming that the conditions in which the PKK formed were no longer present.
İmralı Delegation member Sırrı Süreyya Önder also shared a note that Ocalan conveyed to the delegation at the end of their meeting. The note stated, “While presenting this perspective, it is evident that disarmament and the dissolution of the PKK require the recognition of democratic politics and a legal framework.”
SDF ignores call for farewell to arms
The commander of the Kurdish-led forces that control northeastern Syria said that a call by the leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey for the PKK to dissolve did not apply to the group he leads.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi said he welcomed the historic call by Abdullah Ocalan for the PKK to drop its decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish state, which he said would have positive consequences in the region.
But Abdi said the long-imprisoned Ocalan’s announcement on Thursday applied only to the PKK and was “not related to us in Syria”.
Abdi’s comment signalled Ocalan’s announcement would have no immediate impact on the SDF despite the affiliation of Syria’s main Kurdish groups at the core of the SDF – the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – to the PKK.
DF faces calls by the new Damascus administration that ousted Assad in December to merge into newly-minted state security forces.
Turkey is one of the new Syrian administration’s main supporters.
Abdi has expressed a willingness for his forces to be part of the new defence ministry, but said they should join as a bloc rather than individuals, an idea rejected by the new government.
Neither the SDF nor the Kurdish-led administration was invited to a national dialogue conference convened in Damascus on Feb. 25. The Kurdish-led administration said the conference did not represent Syrians.
Abdi said Syrian Kurdish authorities would be organising their own local dialogue on the future of the northeastern region.
Sources: Duvar English, Reuters
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