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)
