For decades, the Kurdish people in North Kurdistan have resisted the Turkish state’s policies of denial, forced assimilation, violence, and political disenfranchisement. In pursuit of the right to self-determination, they have adopted a variety of strategies, the most prominent being the formation of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 1978. Since its inception, the PKK has played a decisive role in organizing national self-defence and fostering mass political consciousness across North Kurdistan.

Over the past forty years, the Turkish state has employed every possible means—military, political, legal, and psychological—to crush the Kurdish national movement and suppress any collective Kurdish rights, not only in Turkey but across all parts of Kurdistan. However, recent geopolitical shifts in the Middle East and Turkey’s internal political dynamics, particularly the ruling party’s dependence on Kurdish votes in the 2028 elections, have forced Ankara to reassess its long-standing policies.

In the autumn of 2024, the People's Democratic Party (DEM) launched a peace campaign in the Turkish parliament at the request of Turkish Nationalist Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli. Subsequently, on February 27, 2025, imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan called for a ceasefire and the dissolution of the party. Responding to this call, the PKK convened its 12th Congress on May 5–7, where it formally decided to dissolve the organization and end the armed struggle.

This historic decision will undoubtedly have wide-ranging repercussions—not only in North Kurdistan but throughout the region. Since its formation, the PKK has waged a comprehensive struggle against the denial of Kurdish identity by the Turkish state. Its legacy lies not only in armed resistance, but also in its ability to mobilize large sectors of society—women, youth, the diaspora, and even non-Kurdish progressive forces—around transformative ideas such as social liberation, gender equality, ecology, and grassroots democracy.

Thus, the dissolution of the PKK is not merely an organizational decision—it marks the end of a historical chapter and the beginning of a new era in the Kurdish national struggle in North Kurdistan. Yet, this development raises pressing questions for Kurdish society and the national movement: Can there be true progress when the Turkish state remains undemocratic, Kurdish remains banned as a language of education, and Kurdish identity is still unrecognized in the constitution? Is the dissolution of the PKK a genuine achievement or a premature step?

If Turkey genuinely responds to Öcalan’s call, this moment could open the door to a new phase of peaceful coexistence. However, history warns us that previous Kurdish disarmaments—such as in 1994 and 2015—were met not with reconciliation but with intensified state repression. A meaningful peace process requires the Turkish state to take concrete steps, including:

• Constitutional recognition of the Kurdish people as a founding nation of Turkey
• Legal guarantees for mother-tongue education and cultural rights
• Release of political prisoners
• Genuine and transparent peace negotiations

Without these foundational reforms, the PKK’s dissolution will be seen as a unilateral retreat, eroding public trust and endangering hopes for peace.

Crucially, the end of the PKK does not signify the end of the Kurdish struggle. Rather, it marks a transitional phase—toward rethinking strategies, building new structures, and redefining leadership and representation. This shift necessitates urgent answers to critical questions:

• What new forms of struggle will replace the old?
• What mechanisms will represent and defend Kurdish political will in North Kurdistan?
• How will the roles of women and youth, long central to the movement, be reimagined?
• Does democratic politics imply integration into Turkey’s existing structures, or a push for fundamental systemic transformation?

These are not theoretical questions—they will shape the next phase of Kurdish political life.

In a region where authoritarianism and denial define state structures, the absence of self-defence has historically rendered the Kurdish people vulnerable to massacres, displacement, and assimilation. The experiences of the past century reveal a sobering truth: to be unarmed in such a geopolitical environment often means to be defenceless. While the centrality of armed struggle may now be reconsidered, the right and means of self-defence must not be abandoned. In a region where state violence remains a constant threat, maintaining a capacity for self-defence is not an endorsement of violence but a guarantee of survival and dignity.

The PKK leaves behind a powerful legacy of resistance, organization, ideological innovation, and sacrifice. Its dissolution, rather than an end, should be seen as the opening of a new chapter in the sovereign struggle of the Kurdish nation. The Kurdish question has evolved into a political reality that can no longer be denied or ignored.

True peace will not be achieved by silencing weapons alone, but through a comprehensive recognition of the Kurdish people's national rights, cultural dignity, and right to self-determination. Without justice, there can be no peace.

East Kurdistan National Centre (NNRK)
May 20, 2025