Turkey: Ocalan calls on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) forces for a cease-fire and withdrawal from Turkey
Jailed leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan called on PKK forces for a cease-fire and withdrawal from Turkey, in a long-awaited, historic announcement during celebrations of Nevruz, a spring festival, in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Thursday.
“Our fight has been against all kinds of pressure, violence and oppression… A door is now opening on a democratic process after a period of armed struggle. Guns should fall silent and politics should come to the foreground. The stage has been reached where our armed forces should withdraw beyond the borders… It is not the end, it is the start of a new era,” Ocalan said in a statement read by Kurdish politicians at Nevruz celebrations attended by a quarter of a million people in Diyarbakır’s Nevruz Park.
Ocalan began his message by saluting Kurds, people from the Middle East, Central Asia and all others who celebrate Nevruz, which he called “a day of awakening and resurrection.”