PKK declares ceasefire after Ocalan calls for peace and disarmament

*Event date: 2025-03-01.*

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party has declared a ceasefire with Turkiye, saying it will not take up arms unless attacked after its jailed founder Abdullah Ocalan called for the movement to disarm. The statement marks the clearest sign in years that the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state could be moving into a new phase.

The PKK executive committee said on 2025-03-01 that it was declaring the ceasefire in order to pave the way for Ocalan’s call for peace and a democratic society. The group said it agreed with the content of his message and would implement it. That is a meaningful shift because the PKK has spent decades waging an armed insurgency against Turkiye with the aim of carving out a homeland for Kurds.

Ocalan’s role remains central. From prison on the island of Imrali, where he has been held in near total isolation since 1999, he urged the party to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. The PKK said it hoped Ankara would release him so he could lead disarmament and that a secure political environment would be needed for any congress to succeed. No timetable for disbanding was given.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded cautiously but firmly, warning that the state would keep its iron fist ready if the peace effort failed. Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz took a more optimistic tone, calling it a new phase toward a terror-free Turkiye. The government’s response matters because any end to the conflict will require more than a rebel statement; it will need a political framework that Turkey is willing to accept.

The war has lasted since 1984 and has killed more than 40,000 people. The PKK remains designated a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union. Iraq, where the group maintains positions in the north, welcomed the call as a positive and important step toward regional stability. For now, the ceasefire is a declaration, not a settlement, but it is the first serious sign that the cycle of fighting may be breaking.

Ocalan's imprisonment has shaped every effort to end the conflict since 1999. The group said he must personally direct any congress, while Turkiye has insisted it will keep up military pressure if the process fails. The conflict's death toll and the PKK's bases in northern Iraq mean the ceasefire is not just a bilateral issue. Baghdad's endorsement matters because it shows neighbouring states are already looking for stability gains if the ceasefire survives.

The ceasefire also matters because the PKK's footprint reaches beyond Turkiye's borders. The group maintains positions in northern Iraq, where Turkish forces have repeatedly conducted ground and air operations, and Baghdad welcomed Ocalan's call as a step toward stability. Even so, the statement left major gaps: no timeline for disarmament, no concrete roadmap for talks and no guarantee that either side will stop reaching for military leverage if the process stalls.

The statement still left the key bridge between war and politics unresolved: Ocalan's call was a start, not a settlement, and both sides were clear that any durable deal would depend on conditions for talks, security and implementation.