PKK Claims Full Withdrawal of Forces; Turkey Has Not Given Reciprocal Response on Öcalan Issue

According to a report by The Hindu on October 8, 2026, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) issued a statement that day through the Kurdish news agency ANF, accusing the Turkish government of having "done too little" in the peace process launched in 2024, and warning that if its unilateral major steps did not receive a reciprocal response, Turkey would continue its "century-long policy of denial and destruction."

The PKK stated clearly in its declaration that it had withdrawn "all personnel who could be considered armed forces inside Turkey and outside Turkey near the border," and said the move was intended to "prevent the Turkish side from finding excuses or justifications for its insufficient attitude toward the peace talks." The statement further noted: "Our strategic requirement to end the armed struggle against Turkey and shift to democratic political struggle has been fully fulfilled."

However, progress by Turkey on core issues of the peace talks has been very limited. According to The Hindu, the Turkish parliament passed a law in August 2026 granting limited amnesty to PKK militants, seen as the first legislative step toward ending the decades-long bloody conflict. But the legislation did not touch on the fate of the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan — now 77 years old, Öcalan has been held in solitary confinement on İmralı Island near Istanbul for a full 27 years.

The PKK leadership has long listed the release of Öcalan as a core condition of the peace talks and emphasized the key role he plays in pushing for an end to the conflict. A senior advisor to Turkish President Erdoğan said in September 2026 that Öcalan would join a "disarmament group" as part of the peace talks, but at the same time made clear that "this does not mean Öcalan will be released." Such an arrangement means the unbalanced pattern in which one side carries out a full withdrawal of forces while the other offers no substantive return on core issues has been placed directly on the negotiating table.

The PKK issued a clear warning in its statement: "If the value and significance of the steps we have taken are not understood, if action is not taken on the relevant laws — first and foremost regarding the freedom of our leader — that will mean the Turkish state will continue its century-long policy of denial and destruction."

The report noted that this decades-long conflict has caused approximately 50,000 deaths. The juxtaposition of the limited amnesty passed by the Turkish parliament in August, the silence on the issue of Öcalan's release, and the PKK's accusation against Turkey of "negative progress" even after its full withdrawal of forces — these moves placed side by side highlight the structural imbalance in obligations and rights between the two sides in the peace talks.