PKK Announces Ceasefire in Response to Ocalan's Request to Turkey

In the first reaction to Abdullah Ocalan's statement, the PKK, a Kurdish militant group, announced on Saturday, March 2, that it would choose a ceasefire in its battle against Turkey. The announcement comes two days after Abdullah Ocalan, the founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who is imprisoned, urged the group to lay down its arms and dissolve. Ocalan stated in a historic announcement read in Istanbul on Thursday, March 1, 'All groups must lay down their arms, and the PKK must dissolve itself.' Ocalan's request came four months after Ankara offered him a reconciliation proposal. In a statement released by the PKK's executive committee on Saturday to announce the ceasefire, it was stated that the ceasefire would take effect immediately. The committee members also emphasized that the declaration of a ceasefire is a step towards 'facilitating the leader's call for establishing peace and a democratic society.' The PKK's executive committee, based in northern Iraq, also stressed that 'none of our forces will take up arms unless they are attacked.' Since Ocalan's imprisonment in 1999, multiple efforts have been made to end the bloodshed that began in 1984 and has left over 40,000 dead. The last round of negotiations in 2015 failed amid increasing violence. After that, no communication was established until last October when the government led by Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), offered a peace proposal to Ocalan, provided he renounces violence. This move was also supported by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.