In video, jailed PKK leader Ocalan says armed struggle with Turkey over

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to say the group’s armed struggle against Turkey has ended, and he called for a full shift to democratic politics.

In the recording, dated June and released by Firat News Agency, which is close to the PKK, Ocalan urged Turkey’s parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage a broader peace process.

The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and is labelled a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, decided in May to disband after an initial written appeal from Ocalan in February.

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“The phase of armed struggle has ended. This is not a loss, but a historic gain,” he said in the video, the first time since he was jailed in 1999 that either footage of him or a recording of his voice has been released.

“The armed struggle stage must now be voluntarily replaced by a phase of democratic politics and law.”

Ocalan, seated in a beige polo shirt with a glass of water on the table in front of him, appeared to read from a transcript in the seven-minute video. He was surrounded by six other jailed PKK members all looking straight at the camera.

He said the PKK had ended its separatist agenda.

“The main objective has been achieved – existence has been acknowledged,” he said. “What remains would be excessive repetition and a dead end.”

Ocalan added that Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the third largest in parliament in Ankara, should work alongside other political parties.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey would not allow any attempt to sabotage the disarmament process of the PKK, adding that he hoped the process would be completed as soon as possible.

Speaking to members of his ruling AK Party in parliament, Erdogan said Turkey was “ripping off” the “bloody shackles” imposed on it and that the “wall of terror” would be brought down. He added that positive developments were expected in the coming days.

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