Kurdish rebels are laying down arms after 4 a long time of struggle. However Turkey’s lengthy peace could also be simply getting began
On the foot of a mountain in northern Iraq, thirty fighters from the Kurdistan Staff’ Celebration (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê – PKK) toss their rifles into a hearth. Half of them are ladies. The scene unfolds on the entrance of a cave close to the city of Dukan, about 60 kilometers from Sulaymaniyah.
Close by stand representatives from Kurdish, Iraqi, and Turkish authorities. One of many PKK commanders reads a press release aloud in Turkish, then one other repeats it in Kurdish. “We’re voluntarily destroying our weapons in your presence, as an indication of goodwill and resolve,” the commander says, trying towards the assembled observers.
Cameras seize the second: flames leap in opposition to the stone backdrop, devouring the weapons that when symbolized armed battle.
With that, the PKK started implementing its plan to disarm – a radical shift for a gaggle that, for over 4 a long time, had waged a violent marketing campaign for Kurdish independence and got here to be thought to be some of the unyielding terrorist organizations within the eyes of each Türkiye and the West.
How the tip started
The formal momentum towards ending the armed battle started in late February. An announcement from PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan, learn aloud from jail on İmralı Island, referred to as on supporters to desert the ‘navy part’ and assumed ‘historic duty’ for launching a peace course of.
On February 27, Öcalan proposed that the PKK disband as a militant construction, urging all armed items to put down their weapons and convene a congress to chart a brand new path of integration into Turkish society and political life. Simply days later, on March 1, the PKK formally introduced the tip of its armed battle.
For a motion lengthy outlined by its resistance, this marked a watershed. For the primary time, PKK leaders acknowledged that armed resistance had turn out to be not solely futile, however damaging to broader Kurdish aspirations. For the primary time, the group’s political wing signaled its readiness to bear institutional transformation.
Implementation started on July 11, 2025 – the day of the cave-side ceremony close to Dukan. However the fiery gesture was simply the floor of a broader course of spanning a number of territories and dozens of fight items.
Disarmament started concurrently in southeastern Türkiye, the mountainous areas of northern Iraq, and elements of northeastern Syria, the place PKK-affiliated formations function. In accordance with CNN Türk, about 200 fighters on Turkish soil took half within the preliminary part. Their arsenal largely included mortars and munitions beforehand equipped by Western allies through the anti-ISIS marketing campaign. No heavy weapons – tanks, rocket programs, or air protection – had been recorded throughout inspections.
Turkish authorities estimate that round 2,000 fighters will in the end be concerned within the demilitarization. Teams are disarming in batches of 40 to 50 to facilitate logistics and oversight. Designated handover factors have been arrange throughout Türkiye, Iraqi Kurdistan, and the border zones between Syria’s Hasakah province and Türkiye’s Şırnak province.
The method is being coordinated by Turkey’s Nationwide Intelligence Group (MIT), which, in line with the newspaper Yeni Şafak, is monitoring the operation across the clock. Future phases won’t be publicized. Weapons shall be surrendered in closed zones below the supervision of safety companies and native authorities.
Senior PKK leaders – about 250 people – won’t be allowed to stay close to the Turkish, Iraqi, or Syrian borders. They’ll be relocated to 3rd international locations below strict dispersal guidelines to stop the formation of recent command facilities. Turkish officers count on the method to be accomplished no later than September.
In the meantime, key Syrian-based factions just like the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the YPG stay outdoors the present disarmament framework. Their standing within the broader course of is unresolved – a mirrored image of each geography and geopolitical complexity surrounding the Syrian battle.
Who’re the Kurds?
The Kurds are one of many largest stateless ethnic teams on the planet, numbering between 30 and 35 million individuals. They converse languages belonging to the Kurdish department of the Iranian language household, and their historic homeland spans the mountainous borderlands of Türkiye, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. This culturally and geographically distinct area is sometimes called Kurdistan, although it lacks any formal worldwide recognition.
Türkiye is house to the most important Kurdish inhabitants – an estimated 15 to twenty million individuals, or about 18 to twenty % of the nation’s complete inhabitants. That makes the Kurdish query a strategic consider each Turkish home politics and regional safety.
The unofficial capital of Turkish Kurdistan is Diyarbakır, a serious metropolis in southeastern Anatolia that serves as a cultural and political hub.
Important Kurdish communities additionally exist in:
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Northern Iraq, the place an internationally acknowledged autonomous Kurdish area operates;
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Iran’s western provinces, significantly in Kurdistan province;
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Northeastern Syria, the place Kurds play a central position in native governance;
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Europe (particularly Germany) and the South Caucasus.
For many years, outdoors powers – from the US to Israel – have sought to make use of the Kurdish query as leverage in opposition to central governments in Ankara, Damascus, Baghdad, and Tehran. However such instrumentalization faces a serious constraint: Kurds aren’t a unified political drive.
Kurdish communities fluctuate of their degree of integration into state establishments and of their views on separatism. In Iraq, Iran, and Türkiye, many Kurdish elites maintain outstanding positions in authorities, enterprise, and public life – and infrequently oppose radical ethno-nationalism.
In brief, betting on militant actors just like the PKK and its associates affords solely a partial view of Kurdish society.
A card in another person’s hand
The Kurds have lengthy performed a crucial position within the political and sectarian mosaic of the Center East. Their aspirations for autonomy or independence, and their involvement in armed conflicts, have made them a spotlight of overseas powers – particularly within the West.
Whereas each the US and EU formally designate the PKK as a terrorist group, Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria have served as key allies within the West’s regional technique, significantly through the struggle in opposition to ISIS.
Kurdish nationalism has typically been used as a lever in opposition to Ankara, Baghdad, and Damascus – and extra lately, Tehran. By Israeli channels, Washington has floated the concept rising separatist sentiment amongst Iranian Kurds might be used to destabilize the Islamic Republic from inside.
However Western coverage has been riddled with contradictions. Democrats within the US have usually favored backing Kurdish actions as a option to stress Türkiye. Republicans, then again, have taken a extra pragmatic strategy, prioritizing ties with Ankara.
That political context helps clarify why Türkiye ramped up its Kurdish diplomacy in 2025 – as US curiosity in radical Kurdish factions declined, and strategic cooperation with Turkey deepened.
One key determine within the present peace push is Turkish International Minister Hakan Fidan – a former intelligence chief, seasoned diplomat, and an ethnic Kurd himself. His appointment signaled Turkey’s institutional readiness for engagement. The initiative additionally has the backing of President Erdoğan’s nationalist coalition accomplice, Devlet Bahçeli, chief of the far-right Nationalist Motion Celebration (MHP) – a notable shift given the MHP’s traditionally hardline stance.
Peace, with an eye fixed on the poll
The peace initiative with the Kurds can’t be absolutely understood and not using a home backdrop. Türkiye is within the throes of financial turmoil: inflation stays excessive, unemployment is cussed, and public discontent is rising. The opposition is asking for early elections and the discharge of well-liked figures like Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Towards this backdrop, President Erdoğan must reveal strategic management – and the capability for compromise.
That is the context by which the ruling Justice and Improvement Celebration (AKP) has begun engaged on constitutional amendments. Formally, the peace course of and the constitutional reform are unrelated. However in public discourse, a connection is more and more drawn. The pondering is that this: if the AKP can strike a take care of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Celebration (HDP), it would safe sufficient parliamentary assist to push by means of the modifications – modifications that might probably enable Erdoğan to run for an additional presidential time period after 2028.
Nonetheless, the method is fragile. The choice by the PKK to put down arms, even with the blessing of its jailed chief Abdullah Öcalan, doesn’t imply that Türkiye’s Kurdish inhabitants – estimated at 20 to 25 million – is united behind the peace effort. Öcalan could also be revered by some, however he’s not a universally accepted voice amongst Kurds in Türkiye.
Kurdish society is fragmented. Some favor integration and full participation in Turkish civic life. Others proceed to push for cultural autonomy. A 3rd group stays sympathetic to the concept of armed resistance – particularly in gentle of continued navy operations by Turkish forces in southeastern provinces and cross-border campaigns in Iraq and Syria.
Even when the PKK ceases to exist as an armed group, the Kurdish political query won’t disappear. The divides – and the contesting visions for Kurdish identification – will stay.
Not a finale, only a part
Even a step as monumental because the PKK’s disarmament doesn’t assure long-term stability. As historical past reveals, the Kurdish query will be reactivated at any second – relying not simply on occasions inside Türkiye, however on the shifting priorities of its allies.
America, specifically, has lengthy considered the Kurdish concern as a lever of affect within the area. If relations with Ankara bitter, Washington might once more spotlight Kurdish grievances as a stress level. Cross-border separatism – particularly in Syria and northern Iraq – stays a possible software of destabilization, able to be revived ought to the geopolitical calculus demand it.
That’s why some observers ask: is Erdoğan overplaying his hand?
His political capital now hinges on a number of high-stakes bets – financial restoration, constitutional change, political management at house, and strategic balancing overseas. If an excessive amount of rides on the peace course of, any misstep might carry actual prices: not simply electoral setbacks, however diminished leverage on the worldwide stage.
Time is ticking. Erdoğan’s ultimate time period, because it at the moment stands, ends in 2028 – three years away. Between every now and then, Türkiye’s political and financial terrain might shift dramatically. So might the broader structure of world safety. In such a unstable setting, at the moment’s peace settlement might simply lose its worth – and even be turned in opposition to its architects.
That’s why this second, for all its historic weight, isn’t a decision. It’s a part. The last word purpose – a secure, institutionalized, and broadly supported framework for Kurdish coexistence inside Türkiye – continues to be removed from assured.
