Jailed Kurdish militant leader calls for end to conflict with Turkey

27 February 2025, 11:28 am

1 min read

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK, is seen with politicians and lawmakers of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Ahmet Turk, Pervin Buldan, Sirri Sureyya Onder, Tulay Hatimogullari, Tuncer Bakirhan, Cengiz Cicek and Faik Ozgur Erol, in Imrali Island prison, in Marmara Sea, in Turkey, February 27, 2025. Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party/Handout via REUTERS

Reuters was nearly eight minutes ahead of the competition in reporting that the jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his PKK to lay down arms and end its 40-year conflict with Turkey.

If the PKK leadership heeds its founder’s call to lay down its arms, which is not guaranteed, President Tayyip Erdogan would gain a historic opportunity to pacify and develop southeastern Turkey, where violence has killed thousands of people and devastated the regional economy.