In brief

PKK declares ceasefire in Turkey “until pain” of earthquake Kurdish victims “is relieved”

Armed group warns it will retaliate if attacked by state forces

Cemil Bayık announces ceasefire in front of portrait of PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan.
Cemil Bayık announces ceasefire in front of portrait of PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan. Author: ANF English screenshot
The co-chairman of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), Cemil Bayık, has announced that the PKK is declaring a unilateral ceasefire in Turkey “until the pain of our people is relieved and their wounds are healed.” The decision comes three days after a powerful earthquake hit several regions of Turkey, Syria, Northern Kurdistan, and Rojava, with a provisional death toll on 10 February of more than 22,000 people.

The KCK is an umbrella organisation made up of several Kurdish groups, including the PKK.

In a televised message, Bayık said that the extent of the destruction and the high number of casualties were the results of the Turkish state’s lack of preparedness for earthquakes. The Kurdish leader accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Islamoconservative AKP and its partner, far-right MHP, of squandering money in wars instead of spending it on preparing for possible earthquakes.

Bayık warned that the PKK reserves the option to retaliate if Turkish security forces attack PKK members.

The PKK and the Turkish state have been in military conflict since 1984, with brief periods of ceasefire. The war between the two actors has resulted in around 60,000 deaths.