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End of an Era: Kurdish PKK Disbands After 4-Decade Fight Against Turkey

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End of an Era: Kurdish PKK Disbands After 4-Decade Fight Against Turkey
Young men hold a photograph of the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, as they gather to watch a live reading of his statement in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on Feb. 27, 2025. Metin Yoksu/AP
Christian D. Orr
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Commentary
Some rather surprising (perhaps even “shocking” would be an appropriate adjective?) news emerged from Turkey on May 12: the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) declared its decision to disband and disarm, thus ending an insurgency campaign against the Turkish government that had begun on Aug. 15, 1984, and claimed the lives of over 40,000 people.

Leader Calls for Cease-Fire

As noted in a May 13 SOFX article:
Christian D. Orr
Christian D. Orr
Author
Christian D. Orr has written for The National Interest, Simple Flying, National Security Journal (NSJ), and 19FortyFive. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).