Jailed ​militant leader Abdullah Ocalan said on Friday (February 27, 2026) ⁠that peace-related laws were needed for a transition to democratic integration in Türkiye, in a statement read out a year after he ‌called on his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end its decades-old insurgency and disband. “The transition to democratic integration necessitates laws of peace,” Mr. Ocalan ‌said in a statement read out by a ​senior figure in the pro-Kurdish DEM Party at a press conference. The PKK declared an end to its insurgency in May last year and its militants burnt some weapons in a symbolic ceremony ‌last July. The PKK took up arms against the Turkish ⁠state in 1984 and it is designated as a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and ‌the European Union. It initially sought an independent state but later moderated its goals to seeking autonomy and greater ​rights for Kurds.

Source: The Hindu February 27, 2026 15:52 UTC