On February 27, Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan made a historic call that caught the attention of the entire world. In his call, he stated that in order to shift the Kurdish issue from a grounds of violence to one of democratic politics and law, the first condition was for the PKK to convene a congress, dissolve itself, and lay down its arms.

In response to this call, the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) held its 12th Congress between May 5 and 7 in the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) with the participation of 232 delegates. At the congress, all delegates unanimously decided to end activities carried out under the name of the PKK.

While Öcalan’s call opened the doors to a new historical, political, and social process, the PKK’s decision stands as a historic step that has strengthened the hope for a shared future between the Turkish and Kurdish peoples.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke to reporters before leaving for The Hague, Netherlands, to attend the NATO Summit.

Referring to the process that began following Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s February 27 ‘Call for Peace and Democratic Society’, Erdoğan said, “We are determined to bring this process, which we are conducting as a state policy, to a successful conclusion.”