The Kurdish Working Group in the European Parliament has described the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) recent congress decision to dissolve its organisational structure and end its armed struggle as “the end of an era” and “the beginning of a new democratic struggle for peace”.
In a joint press statement issued on 13 May, the MEPs called on the Turkish government to respond to the PKK’s move by embracing the opportunity to build a lasting peace for all citizens of Turkey, including Kurds, in line with section 28 of the European Parliament’s resolution on the most recent Commission reports on Turkey.
"We call on Turkey to carry out the necessary legal and political changes to facilitate the process towards a peaceful resolution, and to provide the democratic freedoms to allow political differences to be addressed through democratic means," the Kurdish Working Group said.
As an urgent first step, the MEPs highlighted the need to release all political prisoners and to depoliticise the judiciary. They also warned against attempts to monopolise or politicise the peace process for partisan advantage. Implying President Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), they said,
"Peace cannot be the property of any one political group or manipulated to political advantage. If this is tried, it will fail."
The MEPs also noted that the PKK congress was convened under extremely difficult conditions due to ongoing military offensives by the Turkish army against guerilla-held areas of northern Iraq during the group’s unilateral ceasefire. The MEPs called on Ankara to end these operations and to create security guarantees that would allow a full and genuine peace process to unfold.
They further urged the Turkish state to withdraw its military presence from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and to allow displaced villagers to return to their homes safely.
In relation to Syria, the MEPs addressed Turkey’s repeated attacks on the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), frequently justified by claims of PKK ties. They stated that the AANES has never posed a threat to Turkey and called for an end to these offensives and the withdrawal of Turkish troops.
The Kurdish Working Group also appealed to European institutions to push Turkey to respond to the PKK’s disarmament with democratic reform:
"We call on the European Institutions to use their powers to provide the support and pressure that can help to make this moment the beginning of real change."
The group held a parliamentary debate in March, addressing the worsening human rights situation in Turkey, with particular focus on the ruling AKP government’s policies towards the Kurdish population. During the session, MEPs urged the Turkish government to act in accordance with the peace appeal made by imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. They also called on the European Commission to take a more active stance in deterring the deepening crisis and to encourage Ankara to pursue meaningful legal and political steps toward a peaceful resolution.
The announcement from the PKK, made following its 12th Congress, has drawn significant international attention and support. The United Nations (UN), European Commission and the German government were among the first to welcome the development, describing it as a positive signal for democratisation and peaceful dialogue in Turkey. Political parties such as Sinn Féin in Ireland and Die Linke in Germany also issued statements of solidarity and offered support for ensuring the success of the process.
Additionally, several members of the Party of European Socialists expressed their willingness to contribute to the facilitation of a democratic resolution, calling on Turkish authorities to seize the historic opportunity to open political channels for dialogue and legal reforms, including addressing Öcalan’s status.
The international community’s early responses indicate cautious optimism for what could become a new chapter in Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish question – one based on peace, inclusively, and democratic transformation.
