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Abdullah Öcalan calls on PKK to "lay down arms"

27 February 2025 18:11 (UTC +04:00)

Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, called on Thursday the group to "lay down its arms" and to dissolve itself, APA reports citing Al Arabiya.

The officials from the Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) conveyed a message from Öcalan.

Ocalan, 75, has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali off Istanbul since 1999 after being convicted of treason and has been held in Imrali prison for 26 years. Despite his incarceration, he continues to wield significant influence over the PKK. Although he was sentenced to death, the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

The group’s leadership is widely expected to heed any call Öcalan makes, although some factions within the group could resist, analysts say.

Founded by Ocalan in 1978, the PKK is considered a terrorist organization.

Previous peace efforts with the PKK have ended with failure–the most recent in 2015.

The DEM party said the seven-member delegation were on their way back to Istanbul from Imrali island in the Sea of Marmara after meeting with Ocalan.