A woman holds up a flag depicting Abdullah Öcalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) imprisoned in Turkey, during an event organized by NGOs and women's action groups to commemorate International Women's Rights Day, in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamichli, March 8, 2025. (Credit: Delil Souleiman/AFP)
A key ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that all "affiliated groups" of the Kurdish militant group PKK must disarm as well, as part of a historic cease-fire deal with Ankara.
Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), last month called on his group to disband and end more than four decades of armed struggle against Turkey.
But Ankara also wants all PKK fighters disarmed wherever they are, notably those in the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces — the bulk of which is made up of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
The SDF leadership welcomed Ocalan's call on Feb. 27 to disband but said it did not apply to its forces.
"The PKK terrorist organization and its affiliated groups must immediately and without preconditions lay down their weapons," said Devlet Bahceli, head of the hardline nationalist MHP party.
Bahceli is considered the key sponsor of the talks between Ankara and the PKK after he offered a surprise peace gesture if Ocalan rejected violence.
"The fact that the YPG and other similar terrorist groups claim to be exempt from this call... is completely contradictory to the leadership of the organization," Bahceli said in a statement.
The PKK announced a cease-fire after the call by Ocalan, who has been imprisoned for the past 26 years, saying that "none of our forces will carry out any armed operation unless they are attacked."
Since 2016, Turkey has carried out three major military operations in northern Syria targeting PKK militants, which it sees as a strategic threat along its southern border.
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union, has waged an insurgency since 1984.
Its original aim was to carve out a homeland for Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of Turkey's 85 million people.
Since Ocalan was jailed in 1999, there have been various attempts to end the bloodshed, which has cost more than 40,000 lives.
