Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday said that terrorist ringleader Abdullah Öcalan‘s appeal for the bloody-minded PKK terror group to disband and disarm was a “historic opportunity“.
“We have a historic opportunity to advance towards the objective of destroying the wall of terror“, Erdoğan said in a statement while referring to the jailed PKK founder Öcalan’s call.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its western allies, has led a decades-long armed campaign against the Turkish state.
On Thursday, Öcalan said “all groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself” — but PKK ringleaders have yet to respond.
Erdoğan said Türkiye would “keep a close watch” to make sure the talks to end the insurgency were “brought to a successful conclusion”, warning against any “provocations”.
“When the pressure of terrorism and arms is eliminated, the space for politics in democracy will naturally expand,” Erdoğan promised on Friday.
“No member of this nation, whether Turk or Kurd, will forgive anyone for blocking this process by ambivalent speeches or actions, as has happened in the past,” he said.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the fighting between Türkiye and the PKK since 1984.