After 47 Years of War and 40,000 Deaths, PKK Declares End to Armed Struggle Choosing Peace Over Bloodshed

In a decision that could alter the course of history for millions of Kurds and Turks alike, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has announced the end of its armed campaign drawing a line under nearly five decades of conflict, sacrifice, and suffering.

The decision, finalized during the group’s 12th Congress held in the remote mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan, comes as a response to an emotional appeal from the group’s imprisoned founder, Abdullah Ocalan. Speaking from his isolated prison cell on Imrali Island, Ocalan urged the movement to “choose peace over blood” and open a new chapter based on democratic struggle, not war.

More than 40,000 lives Kurdish and Turkish, fighters and civilians have been lost since the PKK first picked up arms in 1984. Entire villages were emptied, generations grew up in fear, and hope often came second to survival. Now, for the first time in decades, that cycle may be broken.

The announcement has stirred deep emotions across the Kurdish region. In towns like Cizre, Hakkari, and Van, families of martyrs cried openly not from grief this time, but from relief that no more sons or daughters may have to die in the mountains.

The Turkish government has yet to issue a full response, but early remarks from officials suggest a mixture of caution and hope. Omer Celik, spokesperson for the ruling AKP, called the development “an important step toward national healing,” while opposition voices warned that “peace requires more than words.”

The legacy of the PKK is complicated praised by some as defenders of Kurdish identity and condemned by others as militants but today, many in the region are focusing less on the past and more on the future.

Uncertainty remains. Will the Turkish state recognize this move as sincere? Will the thousands of fighters still in the mountains be safely reintegrated into civilian life? Will justice be served to the victims of the conflict? These are questions that may take years to answer.

But for now, for the mothers and children of Kurdistan, for the war-scarred cities and the long-ignored voices, there is a fragile but powerful truth taking root: peace is no longer a dream. It is a decision.

And it has finally been made.