ISTANBUL, Turkey – A glimmer of hope is emerging in Turkey after more than 40 years of battle.
PKK militants were once focused on armed struggle for independence for the Kurdish people. Now, they want peace with the Turkish government.
In Diyarbakir, a Turkish city known for its large Kurdish population, there’s a growing sense of hope. After decades of violence, many here believe peace might finally be within reach.
“Turkey has been tired of this war for 40 years, the people of this region are tired of war,” said Tekin Ergin, a resident of Diyarbakir.
The Kurdish Workers’ Party, or PKK, recently announced it will disband and disarm as part of a new peace initiative with Turkey.
“The PKK might not be a familiar organization for a lot of people in the West, but for Turkey, this is the terrorist organization that is fighting the Turkish government,” Mustafa Akyol, with the CATO Institute, told CBN News.
Founded more than 40 years ago, it originally fought for an independent Kurdish state. The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union.
“It is estimated that up and till now, about 50,000 casualties on both sides have taken place, many of them have not just been restricted to military and state personnel, but also a lot of civilian casualties have taken place too,” Dr. Sinan Ciddi, with the D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CBN News.
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Kurds make up about 20% of Turkey’s 86 million people. When the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) launched its insurgency against the Turkish government in 1984, the goal was to create an independent Kurdish state.
However, by the 1990s, the focus began to shift, and the PKK started advocating for greater cultural, political, and religious rights for Kurds living within Turkey.
So, why seek peace now?
“The PKK realizes that the world has changed dramatically,” said Vahap Coskun of Dicle University. “In other words, it is extremely difficult these days to wage a national struggle with weapons in this age.”
Ciddi suggests changing dynamics in the Middle East may have also helped shift the PKK’s strategy.
The main factors are the fall of Assad’s regime in Syria, the weakening of Iran, and Israel’s ongoing campaigns against Hezbollah and Hamas.
“The PKK is looking at all this and thinking, ‘Well, I can’t just continue business as usual, the thing is that things are changing, the ground is moving inside of the region,'” said Ciddi.
Rasheed Nasir, a Kurd living in Istanbul, tells CBN News that he’s hopeful the PKK’s decision to lay down arms will open the door to a more peaceful future.
“We cannot bring back all those who died, so the best solution is a ceasefire so that more of our people don’t end up dying. Both sides have suffered a lot,” said Nasir.
Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan recently welcomed the announcement.
“Today crossed another critical threshold in the process of a terror-free Turkey,” Erdogan said in a recent speech. “The terrorist organization announced that it decided to disband and surrender its weapons. We find that this decision is important in terms of strengthening the security of our country and the peace of our region.”
There’s cautious optimism here.
While the details of the peace initiative have not been made public, many hope this will mark the beginning of lasting peace between the PKK and the Turkish government, as well as a better future for the Kurds in the region.
