The closed leader of the Kurdish guerrilla movements that carried out a bloody rebellion against the Turkish state called on Thursday that his group had laid a weapon and fell apart, a major statement that could echo in neighboring countries and help to complete 40 years of deadly conflict.
Abdullah father, leader Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKKHe appealed in a written statement that read aloud during a press conference by members of the main Turkish pro -Kurdish political party who had just visited him in prison.
He said the group received the terrain at a time when “democratic channels of politics were blocked”, but have outlived their life span and should dissolve.
“Connect your congress and make a decision,” he said in a statement, read aloud first in Kurdski and then in Turkish. “All groups have to lay their hands and PKK must dissolve.” Turkey and Kurds now have to move forward “with the Spirit of the Brotherhood,” the statement added, saying that democracy is the only way to do so.
The press conference was full of journalists and Kurdish politicians. Some in the audience applauded and gave a standing ovation when a new picture of a rarely photographed Mr. Fireman appeared on the screen.
The rare message of Mr. Reyelana raised the possibility that the conflict that killed more than 40,000 people over four decades could finally end.
If PKK laid it on a weapon, it would solve the most pronounced Turkish threat in domestic security and indicated a significant political achievement for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Many Turks would praise him for the end of the conflict and, if further reconciled steps toward the Kurds, could encourage them to support the effort to change the Constitution to allow him to run for the third presidential term.
PKK disarming could also move dynamics elsewhere in the Middle East, given the deep influence of Mr. Fireman on the members of the group in Turkey and Iraq, as well as the Kurdish militia in Syria and Iran.
But there were few indications of what would happen next.
A public debate was delayed on who would supervise the compliance of Mr. Father’s call, what would have happened to the fighters who are in accordance with him or what – if nothing – the government offered in exchange for disarmament.
It also remains unclear what the call of Mr. Fireflies will mean for the members of PKK in Iraq, and for the militia under the guidance of the Kurdska under the leadership of the United States, which controls much of northeastern Syria and has to do with PKK Mazloum Abdi, the leader of Syrian democratic forces, but it praised it, but it was on the internet. It was in the US, but it was in the US.
PKK classifies as a terrorist organization by Turkish, United States and other countries.
Mr. Father’s appeal followed after a series of interviews involving Turkish officials; Mr. Fatherly; and members of the main Turkish Pro-Curd Party, People’s Party for Equality and Democracy or DEM
In the speech to members of his political party in January, Mr. Erdogan said the government offered a group of Mr. Fcelan without concessions. But the end of the conflict would use the Turks and the Kurds, he said.
The aim of the conversation was to make a “terrorist group disband, to surrender unconditionally the weapon,” he said.
But in an interview published last week by Firata news agency related to PKK, a senior member of the group suggested that many questions remain unresolved.
“No one should think that easy negotiations will happen on the table, the signatures will be done and everything will be resolved,” said older member Duran Kalkan. “The other side wants to eliminate PKK”
The Kurdish group has been fighting against the Turkish state since the early 1980s, attacking police station and military positions and conducting a bombing in which many civilians killed. It began as a secessionist group that sought to create an independent state for the Turkish Kurdish minority, but now says he is seeking greater rights for the Kurds within Turkey.
For many Turks, Mr. Fatherwater is the most handsome terrorist in the country. Turkish officials and news often call him a “baby killer” or “main terrorist”. Convicted in 1999 for the guidance of an armed terrorist group, Mr. Fatherland was in a quarter of a century prison.
Turkey and PKK have tried to resolve the conflict over the years, recently through peace negotiations that began in 2011. But negotiations broke up in 2015, starting in the deadly new stage.
Last October made a powerful political ally of Mr. Erdogan Surprising public call Mr. Father’s, asking him to tell his fighters to lay their hands and end the conflict. That, the politician said, could open his way to his life sentence in a Turkish prison.
This has led to limited prison visits of the relatives and political allies of Mr. Father’s father to investigate the possibility of a new peace process.
Regional and domestic dynamics may have encouraged the Turkish government to see a new view of his conflict with PKK conflicts thrown around the Middle East may have motivated the Turkish leaders to try to secure stability at home.
The Turkish army seriously degraded PKK military capabilities, which may have made the group more open to negotiations.
And the increase in the rebel group for the Turkish rebellion in Syria in December left the Syrian democratic forces leading the dicks in northeast of Syria vulnerable and in danger of being impaired by his authority.
“The Turkish room of maneuver has spread significantly,” said Sinem Adar, a Turkish analyst from Berlin of the German Institute for International and Security Issues. “It’s now-now or never a moment for Turkish” to weaken the territorial control of the Kurdish militia in Syria, which she considers a threat to her safety, she added.
On Thursday, in Diyarbakir, a predominantly Kurdish city in Eastern Turkey, the invitation of Mr. Fireman has attracted mixed emotions for disarming.
Hundreds of people gathered downtown to listen to his message, which aired through the large speakers dealing with Dagkapi Square.
Several, such as Baran Aydin, a 29-year-old Kurd who said he had been closed seven years for charges related to PKK and released just a week ago, he said they believed in making the decisions of Mr. Obalan and hoped. But more left to cry in frustration and confusion when reading at Kurdish ended.
“I’m not sure what I feel,” Sakir İlbey said, 58-year-old Kurd. “Peace means to be equal to Turku.”
But “I don’t believe in the state,” he added.
Mem Erzen, 24, said that he expected Mr. Fatherwater to call for disarmament, but that he was still disappointed.
“I witnessed losses most of my life,” he said. “I understand now is the time to diplomacy,” he added. “But I’m sad.”
Murat Bayram contribute to reporting.
