06.03.2025

Abdullah Öcalan’s statement

The PKK was born in the 20th century - the century of the most intense violence in history, two world wars, real socialism and the cold war environment around the world, the denial of the Kurdish reality and the prohibitions on freedoms, especially expression.

In theory, programme, strategy and tactics, it was heavily influenced by the reality of the real-socialist system of the century. The collapse of real socialism in the 1990s due to internal reasons, the dissolution of identity denial in the country and the developments in freedom of expression led to the PKK losing its reasoning and falling into excessive repetition. Therefore, it completed its lifespan like its peers, necessitating its dissolution.

Kurdish-Turkish relations: for more than a thousand years, Turks and Kurds have always considered it necessary to remain in a voluntary alliance in order to sustain their existence and survive against hegemonic powers.

The last 200 years of capitalist modernity have made it their main goal to break up this alliance. The affected forces, along with their class base, have been committed to serving this. This process accelerated with the uniformist interpretations of the republic. The main task now is to reorganise the historical relationship, which has become very fragile today, in a spirit of brotherhood, without ignoring beliefs.

The need for a democratic society is inevitable. The PKK, which is the longest and most comprehensive insurgency and violent movement in the history of the Republic, gained strength and a base because the channels of democratic politics were closed.

Separate nation-state, federation, administrative autonomy and culturalist solutions, which are a necessary consequence of its extreme nationalist drift, cannot respond to the historical sociology of society.

Respect for identities, their free expression and democratic organisation, and the socio-economic and political structures that all segments of society take as a basis for themselves are only possible with the existence of a democratic society and political space.

The second century of the republic can only have a permanent and fraternal continuity when it is crowned with democracy. There is no path other than democracy for system searches and realisations - there cannot be. Democratic reconciliation is the basic method.

The language of the period of peace and democratic society must be developed in line with reality. In this climate created by the call made by Mr Devlet Bahçeli, the will of Mr President and the positive approach of other political parties towards this call, I call for laying down arms and I assume the historical responsibility of this call.

Convene your congress and decide to integrate with the state and society, as any modern society and party that has not been forced out of existence would do voluntarily. All groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself.