A congress of the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) this week culminated in a historic decision to close the organisation.
Reports on Friday, May 9th, from Kurdish news agency ANF described the talks as taking place in the Kandil mountains of northern Iraq, ending in “decisions of historic importance concerning the PKK’s activities, based on the call” from movement founder Abdullah Ocalan to dissolve the group.
If the decision is followed through, it will offer some relief to the Turkish state—which has fought to contain the PKK’s insurgency for decades, with heavy casualties on all sides.
Based in northern Iraq, the armed wing of the group has been subject to a campaign of Turkish airstrikes in recent months. It was designated a terror group by the U.S. and some European Union member states, a position not amended when PKK militants fought the Islamic State group to a standstill.
