Who Is the P.K.K. Leader Abdullah Ocalan?

Who Is the P.K.K. Leader Abdullah Ocalan?

Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of a Kurdish guerrilla movement that has been waging a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state for decades, has called on his fighters to lay down their arms and disband. The rare message from Mr. Ocalan on Thursday raised the possibility that a conflict that has killed more than 40,000…

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Ocalan Says PKK Fighters Should Disarm

Ocalan Says PKK Fighters Should Disarm

The imprisoned leader of a Kurdish guerrilla movement that has been waging a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state for decades called on Thursday for his fighters to lay down their arms. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., is classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and other countries. The group’s leader,…

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What to Know About the Turkey-P.K.K. Conflict

What to Know About the Turkey-P.K.K. Conflict

For more than four decades, Turkey has been fighting an armed insurgency by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., a militant group that says it seeks greater rights for the country’s Kurdish minority. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, in both P.K.K. attacks on military and civilian targets, and Turkish military…

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