Turkey seeks dissolution of PKK-linked groups in Syria and Iraq, following leader’s peace plea

ANKARA, Turkey — A senior Turkish official on Friday called for the dissolution of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party’s affiliates in Iraq and Syria, a day after the PKK’s imprisoned leader urged his militant group to disarm and disband in a bid to end a four-decade conflict with Turkey.

In a momentous message from his prison, Abdullah Ocalan called on the PKK to convene a congress and take the decision to lay down arms and dissolve itself. The message, relayed by senior pro-Kurdish party officials, was part of a new peace initiative to end a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Omer Celik, the spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s governing party, said all groups associated with the PKK should comply with the call.

“Regardless of whether they are called PKK, YPG or PYD, all extensions of the terrorist organization must dissolve themselves,” Celik said, in reference to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units and its political wing. “We mean the complete liquidation of the organization and its elements in Iraq and Syria.”

Celik said: “At the point we have reached today, we declare that it is time to achieve the goal of a terror-free Turkey.”

The PKK’s leadership, which is based in northern Iraq, has not yet responded to Ocalan’s call.

In Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF — which includes the YPG — welcomed Ocalan’s call for disarmament as an “opportunity to build peace and a key to opening correct and constructive relations in the region.

The SDF’s commander later added during a news conference that Ocalan’s call concerned the PKK and had “no connection to our forces.”

The new effort for peace between the PKK and the Turkish state was initiated in October by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli. The far-right politician suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if his group renounces violence and disbands.

Ocalan, 75, has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali, off Istanbul, since 1999, after being convicted of treason. Despite his incarceration, he continues to wield significant influence over the PKK, which he founded in 1978.

The group has led an insurgency in Turkey’s southeast since 1984. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

Celik said: “The process will be meticulously followed by state institutions.”

Previous peace efforts have ended in failure, most recently in 2015.