AM:11:50:11/07/2025
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The disarmament process of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has officially begun today, July 11, 2025, in the Raperin administration of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG). The event is taking place in the presence of a delegation from the DEM Party, political figures, and a large number of local and international journalists.
Two delegations of senior DEM Party officials arrived in the Kurdistan Region earlier on Friday to oversee and participate in the process. According to NRT, over 30 guerrilla fighters are taking part in the disarmament, which is being broadcast live on a large screen, with media outlets from Turkey and several European countries invited to cover the event.
The process comes just two days after imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan issued a rare video message on July 9. In his address, he urged the group to return to political engagement and contribute to building social peace, emphasizing the need to abandon armed struggle. The PKK has announced its full commitment to Ocalan’s call.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party was established in 1978 by a group of students at Ankara University, who elected political science student Abdullah Ocalan as their leader. The PKK became an armed group in 1984 following the 1980 military coup in Turkey, launching an armed struggle in Turkish Kurdistan that lasted for decades.
Today’s development marks one of the most significant moments in the PKK’s history and potentially a turning point in Kurdish-Turkish relations.