**Ocalan Urges PKK to Embrace Peace and Disband Arms**

After decades of violence, Ocalan’s appeal for the PKK to dissolve itself signals a potential shift towards peace.

Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), has issued a historic call for his movement to lay down arms and disband, aiming to conclude a protracted conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives over four decades in southeastern Turkey. The 75-year-old leader's message was conveyed through a letter read by members of a pro-Kurdish party after a meeting on Imrali Island, where he has been confined since 1999.

Ocalan's appeal comes in the context of a political shift led by the ultra-nationalist politician Devlet Bahceli, who, alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other political factions, has initiated steps towards resolving the long-standing discord. In his letter, Ocalan emphasized democracy as the only viable path forward in establishing a political system and urged all PKK members to lay down their weapons and pursue a peaceful resolution.

He acknowledged that the PKK emerged in a climate of suppressed democratic channels, but he believes that current political gestures from the government have created an opportunity for a peaceful settlement. Previously, Bahceli's unexpected outreach for dialogue, including mutual engagements with pro-Kurdish MPs, has sparked discussions about a potential parole for Ocalan contingent on the dissolution of the PKK.

Nearly 40,000 lives have been lost since the PKK took up arms in the 1980s, with a notable increase in violence from 2015 to 2017 following the collapse of a ceasefire. Recently, the PKK's involvement in an attack near Ankara, resulting in five fatalities, underscored the ongoing tensions as the region remains complicated by the crises in neighboring Syria.