The Kurdish rebel group, PKK, announced it will stop fighting Turkey after 40 years. The banned group started fighting in the 1980s for a separate Kurdish state, but later changed to seek more rights for Kurdish people. PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan urged the group to end armed struggle from his prison cell. He has stayed locked up alone since 1999 in an island jail near Istanbul. The conflict between PKK fighters and Turkish forces killed more than 40000 people over four decades.
Turkey, the United States, Britain, and the European Union all label the PKK as terrorists. The group said it finished its main goal, and future progress must come through peaceful politics. Ocalan wrote that democracy offers the only way forward for Kurdish people. Nobody knows whether he might leave jail as part of this peace deal. Kurdish politicians hope this opens talks about more rights for their people.
Turkey, the United States, Britain, and the European Union all label the PKK as terrorists. The group said it finished its main goal, and future progress must come through peaceful politics. Ocalan wrote that democracy offers the only way forward for Kurdish people. Nobody knows whether he might leave jail as part of this peace deal. Kurdish politicians hope this opens talks about more rights for their people.
