Description: Kurdish Workers Party or the PKK, in a ceremonial manner continued to disarm itself following the pledge from the organization’s leader, Abdullah Ocalan in Feb. In the city of Jasana cave, a known Kurdish stronghold, fighters began putting their weapons in a burning cauldron signaling a final disarmament. After the complete disarmament and disbandment of the group, the Kurds are expected to resort to more political and social approaches in championing for their cause and involvement in the socio – economic systems across Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. The disarmament initiative was spearheaded by a close ally to the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the nationalist, Devlet Bahceli, who directly engaged in negotiations with Ocalan to instigate the group’s disarmament. PKK’s disarmament represents only the initial phase of an initiative which would see the complete socio – economic integration of the 20 to 30 million Kurds living across three countries.
Impact: PKK’s disarmament initiative although a major geopolitical win for Turkey, represents the beginning of what would be a lengthy process of socio – economic integration of the Kurds across three countries. The organization has been campaigning independence through armed rebellion for over 40 years and its disintegration would almost certainly leave a power vacuum within Syria, Iraq and Iran. The full and complete disarmament is still far away from completion as concerns over the internal cohesion of the group also pose a significant threat to the initiative. So far, PKK’s offshoots in Iraq and Turkey have agreed to commit themselves fully to the disarmament, while the other branches of the organization in Syria and Iran are still flirting with the disbandment idea. The initiative bolsters Erdogan’s position on the Turkish political landscape, as the Turkish President is facing a domestic crisis, followed by massive protests and civil upheaval regarding the arrest of the former Istanbul mayor and political opponent, Ekrem Imamoglu.