This is Beirut, 11/07 18:10 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Kurdish PKK militants want to return to Turkey and enter democratic politics, one of the group's joint leaders told AFP on Friday after the fighters began destroying their arms at a ceremony in Iraq. In an interview with AFP, Bese Hozat, one of the Kurdish militant group's two top leaders, also warned the fragile peace process risked being ...
This is Beirut, 11/07 09:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Thirty PKK fighters destroyed their weapons at a ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday, two months after the Kurdish rebels ended their decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish state. The ceremony marks a turning point in the transition of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from armed insurgency to democratic politics, as part of a ...
Sarah Martin, 09/07 17:40 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Turkey Kurds PKK Abdullah Öcalan Disarmament
More than four decades after the start of an armed insurgency that has claimed over 45,000 lives, an announcement made on July 9, 2025, could mark a decisive turning point in Turkey’s modern history. Speaking from his isolated prison cell on the island of Imrali, Abdullah Öcalan, the historic leader and founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party ...
This is Beirut, 09/07 09:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The Kurdish militant PKK group's disarmament process will happen quickly but establishing a Turkish political framework to ensure the switch to democratic politics will be crucial, its jailed founder said Wednesday. Abdullah Ocalan's statement came ahead of Friday's ceremony in northern Iraq for a first tranche of PKK militants to lay ...
This is Beirut, 07/07 17:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Turkey PKK Kurds Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish DEM party Monday to discuss the next steps after PKK militants agreed to end their decades-long insurgency. DEM, Turkey's third-biggest party, has played a key role in facilitating an emerging peace deal between the government and jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, whose ...
This is Beirut, 30/06 22:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Militants from the PKK will begin laying down their weapons at a disarmament ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan in early July, the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported on Monday. The move comes just six weeks after the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced it was ending more than four decades of guerrilla warfare in a conflict that claimed over ...
This is Beirut, 20/05 15:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has said Turkey should ease prison conditions for its founder Abdullah Öcalan, declaring him the group's "chief negotiator" for any future talks after a decision to disband. The Kurdish group, blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies, announced on May 12 it had adopted a decision to disarm and disband ...
This is Beirut, 09/05 15:48 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) held a "successful" meeting this week with a view to disarming and disbanding, a Kurdish news agency close to the armed movement said on Friday. The meeting resulted in "decisions of historic importance concerning the PKK's activities, based on the call" of founder Abdullah ...
This is Beirut, 13/03 20:05 - Reading : less than a minute
The Kurds of Syria celebrate the agreement reached between the new Syrian government and the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are primarily made up of Kurds.
This is Beirut, 13/03 12:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Turkey said on Thursday "terrorists" must lay down arms and foreign fighters must be expelled from Syria, after an agreement spearheaded by Syria's new authorities to disband armed groups. "As Turkey, we remain determined to fight against terrorism," a Turkish defense ministry source said. "There's no change in our expectations for an end to ...
This is Beirut, 04/03 09:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Outlawed Kurdish militants on Saturday declared a ceasefire with Turkey following a landmark call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan asking the group to disband and end more than four decades of armed struggle. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who backed the peace process initiated by a close nationalist ally, warned Turkey would pursue anti-PKK ...
This is Beirut, 27/02 23:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
SDF Mazloum Abdi PKK Abdullah Ocalan
The leader of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Thursday welcomed a call by jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan for the Kurdish militant group to lay down its weapons and disband. "We see this initiative in a positive light because it is about peace here," Mazloum Abdi said. The SDF is dominated by the Kurdish People's ...