Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday demanded that the bloody-minded PKK terror group disband, one month after the jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan called on the terrorist organization to disarm.
“Our time and patience aren’t endless,” Erdoğan said in a message to mark the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr festival that heralds the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
“We expect that the terrorist organization disbands without further delay and fully lays down its arms,” the Turkish president said.
Öcalan, who has been imprisoned on an island off Istanbul since 1999, issued a call on February 27 for PKK terrorists to disarm following decades of the bloody armed campaign against the Turkish state.
However, the PKK has set conditions, including Öcalan’s release.
Ankara has so far rejected the demands, including the unilateral ceasefire announced by the terror group.
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States, has waged an armed insurgency against Türkiye since the early 1980s. Tens of thousands have been killed in the decades-long terror campaign.