Geopolitics › Middle East & North Africa › Turkey (Türkiye)
The Kurds and the PKK peace process
PKK revolt 1984; disbanded 2025· Conflict or rivalry
FactTreaties, membership, measured data, events.
The Kurds, roughly 30–40 million people split mainly among Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria, and the 2025 end of the PKK's armed revolt in Turkey.
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Often called the largest nation without a state, Kurds have a formally recognized autonomous region only in Iraq. In Turkey the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), listed as terrorist by Turkey, the US and EU, fought from 1984; about 40,000 people died. Answering jailed founder Abdullah Öcalan's call, it announced its dissolution in May 2025 and began disarming. In Syria, Kurdish-led forces ran the northeast until January 2026 deals returned most of it to Damascus.
Why it matters
Ending a four-decade war removes a major source of instability in Turkey and changes how Turkey, Syria, Iraq and the US deal with Kurdish forces.
Key facts and numbers
Öcalan's February 2025 statement, the PKK's dissolution announcement and July 2025 disarmament ceremony, Turkish parliamentary commission reports, and the 2026 Syrian government–SDF agreements.
What to watch
Disputed: what Kurds get in return, such as language rights, local power or better conditions for Öcalan, and whether Syrian Kurds' special status survives integration.
Connections (2)
▸The Kurds and the PKK peace process saw the PKK end its war on Turkey (Türkiye)Fact
The relationship
The PKK waged an insurgency in Turkey from 1984 that cost about 40,000 lives. Answering a February 2025 call by jailed founder Abdullah Öcalan, it declared its dissolution in May 2025, burned weapons in July and pulled fighters back to Iraq. Turkey's parliament is now moving laws to reintegrate ex-fighters.
Since when and why
İmralı island prison, Ankara and northern Iraq; dissolution announced May 12, 2025; weapons ceremony near Sulaymaniyah, July 11, 2025; reintegration bill filed August 2026.
How we know
PKK statements, video of the weapons ceremony, Turkish government statements, and the February 2026 parliamentary commission report and resulting bill.
What to watch
Debated: whether a reintegration bill that excludes senior commanders can bring fighters home for good, and whether spoilers on either side could still derail the process.
▸The Kurds and the PKK peace process saw Syrian Kurds cede most self-rule to SyriaFact
The relationship
During the civil war the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, US partners against the Islamic State, built a self-rule zone across about a quarter of Syria. After Assad fell, government forces advanced in January 2026; deals that month handed Arab-majority Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor to Damascus and began merging the SDF into the army.
Since when and why
Northeast Syria; a March 2025 framework deal, fighting in Aleppo and toward Raqqa in January 2026, a ceasefire on January 18 and a comprehensive deal on January 30, 2026.
How we know
Published agreement terms, statements by Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, and the US endorsement calling it a 'historic milestone'.
What to watch
Whether Kurdish-majority areas such as Kobani and Hasakah keep meaningful autonomy, and whether integration holds without US troops, is uncertain.