This is Beirut

Erdogan and Pro-Kurdish MPs Meet in 'New Phase' of Rapprochement

This is Beirut, 07/07 17:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish DEM party Monday to discuss the next steps after PKK militants agreed to end their decades-long insurgency. DEM, Turkey's third-biggest party, has played a key role in facilitating an emerging peace deal between the government and jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, whose ...

PKK Disarmament Process to Begin Early July

This is Beirut, 30/06 22:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

PKK Iraq Turkey

Militants from the PKK will begin laying down their weapons at a disarmament ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan in early July, the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported on Monday. The move comes just six weeks after the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced it was ending more than four decades of guerrilla warfare in a conflict that claimed over ...

PKK Urges Turkey to Ease Leader's Solitary Confinement for Any Peace Talks

This is Beirut, 20/05 15:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

PKK iraq Turkey kurds

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has said Turkey should ease prison conditions for its founder Abdullah Öcalan, declaring him the group's "chief negotiator" for any future talks after a decision to disband. The Kurdish group, blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies, announced on May 12 it had adopted a decision to disarm and disband ...

PKK Nears Disarmament After Historic Meeting

This is Beirut, 09/05 15:48 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Ocalan Kurdistan PKK

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) held a "successful" meeting this week with a view to disarming and disbanding, a Kurdish news agency close to the armed movement said on Friday. The meeting resulted in "decisions of historic importance concerning the PKK's activities, based on the call" of founder Abdullah ...

Kurds of Syria Celebrate Agreement with Damascus

This is Beirut, 13/03 20:05 - Reading : less than a minute

Damascus Syria Kurds SDF PKK

The Kurds of Syria celebrate the agreement reached between the new Syrian government and the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are primarily made up of Kurds.

Turkey Demands the Expulsion of Foreign Fighters From Syria

This is Beirut, 13/03 12:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Turkey Syria PKK EU

Turkey said on Thursday "terrorists" must lay down arms and foreign fighters must be expelled from Syria, after an agreement spearheaded by Syria's new authorities to disband armed groups. "As Turkey, we remain determined to fight against terrorism," a Turkish defense ministry source said. "There's no change in our expectations for an end to ...

PKK Declares Ceasefire with Turkey After 40 Years of Armed Struggle

This is Beirut, 04/03 09:40 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Turkey PKK

Outlawed Kurdish militants on Saturday declared a ceasefire with Turkey following a landmark call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan asking the group to disband and end more than four decades of armed struggle. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who backed the peace process initiated by a close nationalist ally, warned Turkey would pursue anti-PKK ...

Syria: SDF Chief Welcomes Ocalan's Call for PKK to Disband

This is Beirut, 27/02 23:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

SDF Mazloum Abdi PKK Abdullah Ocalan

The leader of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Thursday welcomed a call by jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan for the Kurdish militant group to lay down its weapons and disband. "We see this initiative in a positive light because it is about peace here," Mazloum Abdi said. The SDF is dominated by the Kurdish People's ...

Ocalan Calls for PKK to Drop Weapons, be Dissolved

This is Beirut, 27/02 16:50 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

PKK Abdullah Ocalan Turkey Kurds

Jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan on Thursday called for his Kurdish militant group to lay down its weapons and dissolve itself in a landmark declaration read out in Istanbul. "All groups must lay down their arms and PKK must dissolve itself," he said in a declaration drawn up in his cell on Imrali prison island where he has been held in ...

Turkey's Pro-Kurd Party Teases 'Historic' news from PKK Leader

This is Beirut, 27/02 09:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Turkey PKK

Turkey's leading pro-Kurd party said it was expecting a "historic declaration" Thursday from the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, amid efforts to end a decades-long conflict with Ankara. The pro-Kurdish DEM party will send a delegation Thursday to meet Ocalan at his prison on an island off Istanbul, it said in ...

Turkey FM Calls for Regional Cooperation to Fight PKK

This is Beirut, 26/01 15:15 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Turkey PKK Iraq

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for combined regional efforts to combat outlawed Kurdish fighters in Iraq and neighbouring Syria during a visit to Baghdad on Sunday. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, holds positions in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, which ...

Iraqi Kurdish City Bans Groups Accused of PKK Links

This is Beirut, 02/01 18:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

PKK Iraq Kurdistan ban

Authorities in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah have banned four organizations accused of affiliation with the Turkish-blacklisted Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), activists said Thursday, denouncing the move as "political". The four organizations include two feminist groups and a media production house, according to the METRO center for ...

PKK