PKK announced the decisions of its 12th Congress, held between 5-7 May in the "Media Defence Areas". In a statement made on 9 May, it was noted that "historic decisions were taken on the basis of Abdullah Öcalan's call" at the congress, which was held in parallel in two different areas, and it had been announced that the results would be shared with the public soon.

PKK announced the final declaration of its 12th Congress. In the PKK's final declaration, featured on Firat News Agency (ANF), it was stated, "Our 12th Party Congress, convened between 5-7 May in light of the process initiated by Leader Abdullah Öcalan's statement on 27 February, his multifaceted work, and the perspectives he presented in various styles, has been successfully completed."

232 delegates attended

In the declaration, it was noted, "The Congress was held securely despite the challenging conditions where conflicts continued, air and ground attacks persisted, and the siege on our areas and the KDP embargo were ongoing. For security reasons, it was conducted simultaneously in two different areas. The PKK's 12th Congress, held with the participation of a total of 232 delegates, discussed issues of Leadership, Martyrs, Veterans, the PKK's Organisational Existence and Armed Struggle Method, and the Construction of a Democratic Society, taking historic decisions that signify the beginning of a new era for our Freedom Movement."

'PKK activities terminated'

The declaration included the following statements: "The PKK's Extraordinary 12th Congress evaluated that the PKK's struggle has shattered the policy of denial and annihilation against our people, and brought the Kurdish issue to the point of resolution through democratic politics, thereby completing the PKK's historic mission. On this basis, the PKK's 12th Congress took decisions to dissolve the PKK's organisational structure and end the method of armed struggle, with the process of practical implementation to be managed and executed by Leader APO, thus terminating the activities carried out under the name of PKK."

The declaration included the following decisions: "Our party, the PKK, emerged on the stage of history as our people's freedom movement against the Kurdish denial and annihilation policy, which originates from the Treaty of Lausanne and the 1924 Constitution. In its inception, it experienced the effects of real socialism and adopted the principle of the right of nations to self-determination, waging a legitimate and just struggle based on the strategy of armed struggle. The PKK was shaped in conditions where strict Kurdish denial, the annihilation policy based on it, and policies of genocide and assimilation were dominant. With the freedom struggle it has waged since 1978, it aimed to have Kurdish existence accepted and for the Kurdish issue to be seen as a fundamental reality of Turkey. As a result of the struggle it successfully waged on this basis, it realised the resurrection revolution on behalf of our people, becoming a symbol of the hope for freedom and the search for an honourable life for the peoples of the region.

In the conditions of the 1990s, when our resurrection revolution led to great developments for our people, the quest of the President of the Republic of Turkey, Turgut Özal, to solve the Kurdish issue through politics developed. Leader Apo responded to this quest with the ceasefire of 17 March 1993, initiating a new process. However, due to the severe effects of real socialism, the gang-like mentalities imposed on our war strategy, and the deep state's elimination of Turgut Özal and his team, insisting on the Kurdish denial and annihilation policy and escalating the war, this new process was sabotaged. Thousands of villages were evacuated and burned. Millions of Kurds were displaced from their homes and lands, tens of thousands were subjected to torture and imprisoned, and thousands were murdered in unsolved killings. In response, the Freedom Movement grew both quantitatively and qualitatively, and guerrilla warfare spread to Kurdistan and Turkey. Under the influence of the war waged by the guerrillas, the Kurdish people rose up in 'serhildans' (uprisings). Thus, war became the primary option for both sides. The cycle created by the mutual escalation of war could not be overcome. Consequently, Leader Apo's efforts to solve the Kurdish issue through democratic and peaceful means were unsuccessful.

Conspiracy process

The process was moved to a different phase with the international conspiracy of 15 February 1999. In this process, a Kurdish-Turkish war, which was a significant goal of the conspiracy, was prevented thanks to Leader Apo's great sacrifices and efforts. Despite being held in the İmralı torture and genocide system, he persisted in his insistence on resolving the Kurdish issue through democratic and peaceful means. Leader Apo, who has been kept under absolute isolation for 27 years, fought against the İmralı genocide system and foiled the international conspiracy. In the struggle against the international conspiracy, he analysed the male-dominated, power-holding statist system and developed the democratic, ecological, women's liberationist societal paradigm. Thus, he concretised an alternative freedom system for our people, women, and oppressed humanity.

Leader Apo adopted the perspective of a Common Homeland and a Democratic Republic of Turkey where Kurdish and Turkish peoples are constituent elements, and the Democratic Nation understanding as the framework for resolving the Kurdish issue, referencing the period before the Treaty of Lausanne and the 1924 Constitution, when Kurdish-Turkish relations became problematic. The Kurdish rebellions throughout the history of the Republic, the 1000-year historical dialectic of Kurdish-Turkish relations, and the 52-year struggle of the Leadership have shown that the Kurdish issue can only be resolved on the basis of a Common Homeland and Equal Citizenship. Current developments in the Middle East within the scope of World War III also make it imperative to reorganise Kurdish-Turkish relations.

Our honourable people, who have participated in the 52-year march of the Leadership and the PKK at great cost, resisting the policy of denial and annihilation and the policies of genocide and assimilation, will embrace the peace and democratic society process more consciously and organisedly. We have full faith that our people will understand the decision to dissolve the PKK and end the method of armed struggle better than anyone else, and will embrace the tasks of the democratic struggle period on the basis of building a democratic society. It is vitally important for our people, led by women and youth, to form their own organisations in all areas of life, to organise on the basis of self-sufficiency with their languages, identities, and cultures, to become capable of self-defence against attacks, and to build a communal democratic society with a spirit of mobilisation. On this basis, we believe that Kurdish political parties, democratic organisations, and opinion leaders will fulfil their responsibilities in developing Kurdish democracy and achieving Kurdish democratic nationhood.

Political method will develop more strongly

With the decisions of the PKK's 12th Congress, the legacy of our history of freedom, filled with struggle and resistance, will develop more strongly through the method of democratic politics, and the future of our peoples will develop on the basis of freedom and equality. Our poor and working peoples, all faith groups, women and youth, workers, peasants, and all segments left out of power will defend their rights in the peace and democratic society process and develop a common life in a democratic and just environment.

Parliament must play its historic role

The decision taken by our Congress to dissolve the PKK and end the method of armed struggle provides a strong foundation for lasting peace and a democratic solution. The implementation of these decisions requires Leader Apo to lead and direct the process, the recognition of the right to democratic politics, and a solid, comprehensive legal guarantee. At this stage, it is important for the Turkish Grand National Assembly to play its role with historic responsibility. Likewise, we call on all political parties represented in parliament, especially the government and the main opposition party, civil society organisations, religious and faith communities, democratic press organisations, opinion leaders, intellectuals, academics, artists, worker-labourer unions, women's-youth organisations, and ecologist movements to take responsibility and participate in the peace and democratic society process.

With the embrace of the Peace and Democratic Society process by Turkey's left-socialist forces, revolutionary structures, organisations, and personalities, the struggle of peoples, women, and the oppressed will reach a new level. This will mean achieving the goals of the great revolutionaries whose last words were 'Long live the Brotherhood of the Turkish and Kurdish Peoples and a Fully Independent Turkey!'

With Democratic Society Socialism, which represents a new phase in the Peace and Democratic Society process and the struggle for socialism, the global democracy movement will develop, and a just and equal world will be formed. On this basis, we call on the democratic public, especially our friends leading the Global Freedom Initiative, to expand international solidarity within the framework of the theory of democratic modernity.

We invite international powers to see their responsibilities in the century-long genocidal policies pursued against our people, not to obstruct a democratic solution, and to offer constructive contributions to the process.

Attributed to Kaytan and Altun

Our PKK 12th Congress, convened upon the call of our Leadership, has declared the martyrdom of Fuat-Ali Haydar Kaytan, one of the leading cadres of our Party, martyred on 3 July 2018, and comrade Rıza Altun, martyred on 25 September 2019. On this basis, it has accepted comrade Fuat-Ali Haydar Kaytan, one of the founding leading cadres of the PKK, as the symbol of 'Loyalty to the Leadership, Truth, and Sacred Life'; and comrade Rıza Altun, one of Leader Apo's first comrades, as the symbol of 'Comradeship in Freedom'. We dedicate our historic 12th Party Congress to these two great martyred comrades who have led us with their uninterrupted struggles since the beginning of our Freedom Movement, we reiterate our promise of success to all our martyrs of the struggle in their persons, and we state our claim to realise the dreams of comrade Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a martyr for peace and democracy.

Nation-Statist Socialism Leads to Defeat; Democratic Society Socialism Leads to Victory! To Insist on Humanity is to Insist on Socialism!"

What happened?

• Following his handshake with DEM Party members at the Parliament's opening on 1 October, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, on 22 October 2024, called on Abdullah Öcalan to apply for the "right to hope" and to speak at the DEM Party Group meeting in the TBMM (Turkish Grand National Assembly), on the condition that he dissolves the organisation.
• On 23 October 2024, DEM Party MP Ömer Öcalan was granted permission to visit his uncle Abdullah Öcalan. Thus, Öcalan was visited for the first time in 43 months. On the same day, an attack was carried out by the PKK on the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) facilities in Kahramankazan, Ankara, and 5 people lost their lives. In his first message, Öcalan said, "The isolation continues. If conditions are met, I have the theoretical and practical power to shift this process from a basis of conflict and violence to a legal and political  basis."  
• On 28 December 2024, DEM Party MPs Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, and on 22 January, Buldan, Önder, and Ahmet Türk, the Co-Mayor of Mardin Metropolitan Municipality who was replaced by a trustee, met with Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island and conveyed Öcalan's messages to the public.
• In his message titled "Call for Peace and Democratic Society," shared with the public on 27 February via a 7-person delegation that visited him, including DEM Party Co-Chairs Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları, Öcalan called on all groups to lay down their arms and for the PKK to dissolve itself.
• Following the call, the PKK announced that it had declared a ceasefire starting from 1 March.
• The İmralı delegation visited political parties and met with President Erdoğan at Beştepe on 10 April.
• Pervin Buldan, a member of the DEM Party İmralı delegation, and Faik Özgür Erol, a lawyer from Asrın Law Office, held a new meeting with Abdullah Öcalan on 22 April.
• On 24 April, DEM Party Deputy Group Chairs Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, Sezai Temelli, and Deputy Co-Chair responsible for the Human Rights Commission Öztürk Türkdoğan met with Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç.
• Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a member of the İmralı delegation, passed away on 3 May.
• AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik, in a statement on 5 May, said they expected the process of the PKK laying down arms and dissolving itself to materialise "within days."
• Subsequently, President Erdoğan said on 8 May regarding the PKK laying down arms, "We have overcome all obstacles. Today or tomorrow, the PKK will lay down its arms and dissolve the organisation."
• The PKK, in a statement on 9 May, announced that the congress was held between 5-7 May and that historic decisions were taken.

Forwarding to the next article...

Click to cancel forwarding

10 seconds remaining

---

Click to load now-> EP Deputy Carola Rackete: “Israel’s attacks on Iran is illegal, like Gaza and Lebanon”