ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has formally declared its dissolution on Monday, marking a historic milestone that could bring an end to one of the world’s longest-running conflicts. For decades, the insurgency has extended beyond Turkey’s borders into northern Iraq and northern Syria, claiming tens of thousands of lives.
The decision raises hopes for peace and a significant shift in the region’s stability.
Here are some key dates in the history of the organization that is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and several Western nations:
The PKK — an acronym for its Kurdish name, Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan — is officially founded in the village of Fis, in Turkey’s mainly-Kurdish province of Diyarbakir by Abdullah Ocalan and a group of political science students from Ankara University. The Marxist organization was initially established to create an independent Kurdish state, but its objectives evolved over time to include autonomy and greater rights for Kurds, who make up an estimated 20% of the population.
A military coup in Turkey forces much of the PKK to flee to neighboring countries such as Syria and Lebanon, where the fighters train in the Bekaa Valley. Ocalan leaves a year earlier, in 1979.
The PKK carries out its first armed attack against Turkish security posts, marking the start of its armed insurgency.
Turkey issues an ultimatum to Syria, warning Damascus to expel Ocalan or face military action. The pressure forces Ocalan to leave his long-time base. Ocalan would spend the next four months traveling between several European countries, including Russia, Italy and Greece.
Ocalan is captured in Nairobi, Kenya by Turkish special forces — reportedly with assistance from the CIA. He is flown to Turkey and jailed on Imrali island in the Sea of Marmara, off Istanbul.
Ocalan is convicted of treason and sentenced to death. His sentence is later commuted to life imprisonment, after Turkey abolishes the death penalty in 2002.
Ocalan calls on his groups to declare a unilateral ceasefire and withdraw from Turkish territory. The PKK announces a ceasefire that remains largely in effect until 2004.
PKK representatives hold secret talks with Turkish intelligence officers in Oslo, Norway, which ultimately break down.
Ocalan calls on the PKK to lay down arms in a letter read during celebrations of the Kurdish spring festival of Newroz, marking the beginning of the peace initiative dubbed the “Solution Process.”
A deadly bomb attack targeting Kurds near the Syrian border leads to the collapse of the peace initiative and resumption of conflict.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of Turkey’s far-right nationalist party that’s allied with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, suggests parole for Ocalan, if his group renounces violence and disbands, hinting at the start of a renewed peace initiative.
PKK attack on a defense company near Ankara kills five people and wounds more than 20 others. Turkey retaliates with airstrikes on suspected Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria.
Ocalan issues message from prison calling on PKK to disarm and disband.
PKK declares ceasefire and expresses readiness to convene a party congress to dissolve itself.
PKK says it has held a party congress in two locations in northern Iraq
PKK announces decision to dissolve itself and end its armed struggle.
FILE - Youngsters hold a photograph of the jailed leader of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, Abdullah Ocalan as they gather to watch live on a tv screen a Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, delegation members releasing an statement from Ocalan, in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Metin Yoksu, File)
FILE - A group of armed Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) enter northern Iraq in the Heror area, northeast of Dahuk, 260 miles (430 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, May 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Ceerwan Aziz, File)
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Sixteen-year-old Arthur Brodard went to the Le Constellation bar with friends to celebrate the New Year. Nearly 48 hours after a devastating fire, his mother still held out hope he might be one of the six injured people who remained unidentified after one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies.
Those half-dozen people gave a glimmer of hope for families whose loved ones were missing in the aftermath of the fire at the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana that killed 40 people and injured 119 others, 113 of whom have been formally identified.
“I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard, from Lausanne, Switzerland, told reporters. “I want to know, where is my child, and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”
The severity of the burns has made it difficult to identify both the injured and deceased, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. In some cases, wallets and any identification documents inside turned to ash in the flames. An Instagram account has filled up with photos of people who were unaccounted for, and friends and relatives begged for tips about their whereabouts.
Officials in the Valais regional government acknowledged the prolonged heartache.
“You will understand that the priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region's attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference.
Mathias Reynard, head of the regional government, added: “We are aware of the particularly difficult hours, of the unbearable side of every minute that passes without answers."
Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the bar crowded with New Year's Eve revelers, two hours after midnight Thursday.
“We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could, we saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. “There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can’t imagine the pain I saw.”
Many of the injured were in their teens to mid-20s, police said. Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar.
Officials said they would also look at other safety measures on the premises, including fire extinguishers and escape routes. The region's top prosecutor warned of possible prosecutions if any criminal liability is found.
The injured included 71 Swiss nationals, 14 French and 11 Italians, along with citizens of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland, according to Frédéric Gisler, police commander of the Valais region. The nationalities of 14 people were still unclear.
Emanuele Galeppini, a promising teenage Italian golfer who competed internationally, was officially listed as one of Italy’s missing nationals. His uncle, Sebastiano Galeppini, told Italian news agency ANSA that their family is awaiting the DNA checks, though the Italian Golf Federation on its website announced that he had died.
Dazio reported from Berlin. Associated Press journalists Geir Moulson in Berlin, Graham Dunbar in Geneva, and Nicole Winfield and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this report.
People bring flowers and letters, reading "Rest in Peace", near the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
People mourn behind flowers near the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
The sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations is seen in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday morning, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
People bring flowers and candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
People mourn behind flowers and letters near the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
