Turkey’s ultra-nationalist leader hails ‘historic’ PKK disarmament

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) welcomed the disarmament of a group of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in Sulaimani province on Friday, calling it the beginning of the end of a “dark era.”

“Effective today, the separatist terrorist organization has begun to surrender its weapons in groups, while at the same time, historic developments have begun to mark the end of a dark era,” Devlet Bahceli said after a group of 30 fighters publicly laid down their arms in a symbolic ceremony attended by political and civil society figures in the historic Jasana Cave.

The disarmament ceremony followed a February appeal by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan who urged the group to abandon its armed conflict and pursue a political path to securing Kurdish rights in Turkey. In a video message released on Wednesday, Ocalan reaffirmed the PKK’s departure from armed struggle and reiterated his call for the formation of a legislative commission to oversee peace efforts with the Turkish government.

“The PKK's founding leadership kept its promise, stood by its commitment,” Bahceli said.

MHP is a key ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Bahceli initiated the peace process in October when he called for Ocalan to be allowed to address the Turkish parliament and declare the PKK’s dissolution. At an opening session of the parliament at the time, Bahceli - historically an opponent of the Kurdish movement - made headlines by shaking hands with leaders of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) who have been mediating the peace process.

Bahceli praised the DEM Party, saying it “has maintained a sensible and responsible political line, remaining sincerely committed to the goal of a terror-free Turkey.”

Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group that includes the PKK, expressed support for Ocalan’s message on Thursday but said that Ankara must also take action for the peace process to succeed.

According to the PKK-affiliated ANF news outlet, KCK co-chair Bese Hozat was among the 30 fighters - 15 women and 15 men - who laid down arms on Friday.

On Thursday, upon her arrival in the Kurdistan Region to attend the ceremony, Leyla Zana, a veteran Kurdish politician from Turkey, said Ankara must amend its terrorism law and that she does not “accept that Kurds be accused of terrorism.”

The PKK, founded in 1978 in response to discrimination against the Kurdish population in Turkey, is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara and its allies. The group initially called for an independent Kurdistan, but it later dropped that demand and shifted focus to securing cultural and political rights for Kurds in Turkey.