The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has announced the successful completion of its 12th congress in a written statement, adding that decisions made during the congress will be disclosed soon.
The congress follows PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan’s 27 February ‘Call for Peace and a Democratic Society’, in which he urged the PKK to lay down its arms and convene a congress to consider the group’s dissolution as part of a potential political process toward a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue in Turkey.
According to the statement, the congress was held across two locations within the Medya Defence Zones, a mountainous region near the Turkish border in northern Iraq. The PKK said that more information will be released once results from both venues are consolidated.
The group also paid tribute to veteran politician and filmmaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder, who passed away on 3 May. Önder had played a key role in recent peace efforts with the Turkish state. The PKK called on the public to “work together to achieve the goals of peace and democratic society of this valuable person.”
Additionally, the PKK commemorated “all the heroic martyrs of the 52-year historical struggle with respect, love, and gratitude,” referring to the movement’s origins in 1973, when a group of Turkish and Kurdish students led by Öcalan began organising in Ankara.
Read the full translated PKK statement here:
The 12th Congress of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was successfully held from 5 to 7 May in the Medya Defence Zones—the mountainous Zagros region of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Delegates representing all areas of the organisation gathered simultaneously in two parallel locations.
The Congress convened at the invitation of Leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan), the imprisoned Kurdish leader, and opened by expressing deep respect and longing for him. Delegates reviewed and discussed the perspectives and proposals presented by Leader Apo, alongside a short report from the PKK Central Committee.
Within this framework, the Congress adopted several historically significant decisions concerning the future direction of the PKK, grounded firmly in Öcalan’s call for renewed action and democratic transformation.
Held during the symbolic Month of Martyrs in May, the Congress paid tribute to all the heroic martyrs of the PKK’s 52-year struggle with love, respect and gratitude. It called on the patriotic Kurdish people and all democratic and socialist forces to embrace, embody and defend the national and democratic values forged over more than half a century of resistance—values made possible by the sacrifices of the fallen.
A special tribute was paid to Sırrı Süreyya Önder, the late politician, filmmaker and comrade of Leader Apo, who played a key role in the preparation of the Congress and was instrumental during the peace process. His memory was honoured with profound respect, as the Congress called on all to unite in striving towards the shared vision of peace and democratic society he championed.
Extensive reports and documentation on the outcomes and decisions of the 12th Congress will be shared with the public in the near future, once the results from the two congress locations have been consolidated.
In conclusion, the Congress reaffirmed its commitment by commemorating Comrade Haki Karer—the PKK’s first great martyr, killed in May 1977—and all those who gave their lives for freedom. It called upon the Kurdish people and democratic friends everywhere to honour the martyrs in every domain of life and to intensify the struggle for the physical freedom of Leader Apo.
Martyrs are immortal.
Long live Leader Apo!
