Kurdish conflict
Erdogan: Leaving weapon of the PKK new chapter for Türkiye
The forbidden Kurdish workers’ party has ended its years of armed fight against Turkey. The first weapons have just been laid down. The Turkish president reacts.
With the symbolic weapon laying of the Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK, a new chapter for his country begins in the eyes of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Today is a new day: the doors of the large, powerful Türkiye have been open,” Erdogan said at a party event in Ankara.
At the same time, Erdogan admitted mistakes and illegal actions of the state to the PKK, such as forced disruptions, the braining of villages and bans of the Kurdish language. However, the president avoided talking about specific reforms or an amnesty and instead referred to a parliamentary investigation commission.
Symbolic weapon laying
As part of the peace process, the forbidden PKK had started to settle part of their weapons on Friday. She had announced her resolution in May and followed an appeal by her imprisoned founder, Abdullah Öcalan. According to estimates, the PKK has several thousand fighters. This first step is therefore initially symbolic.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the EU and the USA. Her headquarters are located in the Northern Iraqi Kandil mountains. The organization was founded in 1978 by Öcalan in Turkey – mainly in response to the political, social and cultural oppression of the Kurds in the country. Since the 1980s, she has been fighting arms and attacks for a Kurdish state or an autonomy area in the southeast of Türkiye. Tens of thousands of people died in the conflict. Öcalan has been in custody since 1999.
dpa
Source: Stern
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