Speculation has been rife in Turkey for weeks about an anticipated statement from the jailed leader of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). What would Abdullah Ocalan say? When would he say it? How would it be delivered?
The wait ended on Thursday afternoon, when Mr Ocalan – often known as “Apo” – ordered PKK fighters to disarm and the group to dissolve itself. The message was read out by officials from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (Dem Party), to a packed conference hall in an Istanbul hotel after a delegation had visited Mr Ocalan in prison. He has been serving a life sentence on a remote island in the Sea of Marmara since 1999.
Mr Ocalan’s call is an enormous development. He seems tired of the grinding armed struggle against the Turkish state by the militant group he founded more than 40 years ago, and appears instead to be calling on Kurds to enter a political process.
“Democratic consensus is the fundamental way,” Mr Ocalan said in his statement. It was an apparent call to both the PKK to end its armed struggle, but also to Turkey, to ensure democratic freedoms are not curbed in the nation of 85 million people, about 18 per cent of whom are ethnically Kurdish.
PKK-affiliated militias in Syria have now been pushed into a corner and face demands to integrate into the Damascus-controlled military. Many officials in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region also reject the PKK’s headquarters in the Qandil mountains there. If all PKK factions heed Mr Ocalan’s order to disarm, it would solve and end Turkey’s number one national security concern.
But how Mr Ocalan’s request actually plays out is unclear. Mr Ocalan has been in prison for more than two decades. He has been removed from the group’s decision makers and commanders in Iraq's Qandil mountains. What happens next to the group's former members across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and sympathetic groups in Iran also remains to be seen.
Iraq has in recent months cracked down on the PKK and is increasing military co-operation with Turkey, but the militant group's affiliates there are atomised and widespread. Corralling them away from their mountain bases and convincing followers that an armed struggle might not suit them will not be an easy task for whomever it falls to.
One potential outcome, analysts say, is not a complete dissolution of the group, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, Washington and the EU, but a fissuring.
Oytun Orhan, a programme coordinator at the Ankara-based Center for Middle Eastern Studies, believes some former members will look for more peaceful ways to advocate for Kurdish rights across the region, while a smaller, marginalised PKK will continue to believe that an armed struggle serves their interests.
“Within Kurdish politics, there will be a division between those who want to distance themselves from the PKK and those who advocate acting with the support of the PKK,” Mr Orhan told The National.
“In this respect, Ocalan's statement will have consequences, but I think it is very unlikely that the PKK terrorism will end completely and the organisation will dissolve itself completely.”
Turkish government officials have framed the development as a step towards a “terror-free Turkey,” and Ankara potentially has a lot to gain. The PKK dissolving itself would reduce security risks and facilitate regional investment aims, such as the much-discussed “Development Road” trade route stretching from Iraq to Turkey. Its path would travel through areas currently seen as easy targets for PKK attacks and securing those would be a win for investors on both sides of the border.
But Turkish officials say they are waiting to see what results from Ocalan’s call: whether all the PKK’s affiliates will in fact disarm, or whether this tentative peace process will collapse like previous attempts. Ankara carries out cross-border military campaigns against PKK members in Iraq and Syria, and any suspicion that the group will continue to pose a threat will prompt these to continue.
"Whether this call will be followed or not is now a practical issue, and those who do not will suffer the consequences if they do," said Mehmet Ucum, a senior advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a statement posted on X.
Polls by Turkish research organisation Optimar in December 2024 suggested that Turks would support the disarming of the PKK if it meant fewer terror attacks in the country. But respondents also said they were not convinced that all the group’s fighters would heed the call.
Ocalan's statement will have consequences, but I think it is very unlikely that the PKK terrorism will end completely and the organization will dissolve itself completely.
Oytun Orhan,
Turkish analyst
“In general, the Turkish public would be happy to see the PKK disarm but anything that is seen as a concession to the PKK is risky,” a senior official from Turkey’s main political opposition, the Republican People’s Party, told The National before Ocalan’s statement was released. “This is why they [the Turkish government] is being cautious. It is all going to take a while.”
The conditions under which Ocalan agreed to the move are also not entirely clear. How a wider peace process with the PKK might play out will still probably be the subject of long negotiations between Turkish and Kurdish officials, and regional partners.
Ocalan has not been released from prison. The Turkish government has not reversed the replacement with state appointees of elected Kurdish officials arrested on terrorism charges in the country’s south-east. Kurdish demands for changes to the Turkish constitution to enhance their rights have not materialised. While the Turkish government wants to eliminate the militant group, Kurds in Turkey are expecting democratic freedoms to be guaranteed in a post-PKK world.
Ocalan’s call has huge ramifications for Syria, too. It included a veiled address to the Kurdish-led self-administration in the country’s north-east. It has not dissolved itself following the fall of Bashar Al Assad's former regime in December. Reading between the lines, his address encouraged them to end aspirations for autonomy within Syria – a tacit nudge to Kurdish officials to accept the rule of the new government in Damascus.
“The inevitable outcome of the extreme nationalist deviations – such as a separate nation-state, federation, administrative autonomy, or culturalist solutions – fails to answer the historical sociology of the society,” Ocalan said in his letter.
That autonomy has so far proved to be one of the most challenging issues in the attempt to establish unity across Syrian territory and amid its armed forces post-Assad. But following Ocalan’s order, it remains unclear if Kurdish militias in Syria will see military integration with the rest of Syria as their best option.
Again, Ocalan’s call could cause a split in PKK offshoots there, starting with the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the military power affiliated with the Kurdish-led self-administration who carried out operations against ISIS. The SDF’s receipt of US support has created a wedge between Washington and Ankara, which accuses the US of supporting one terrorist group against another.
Mr Orhan of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies said that a PKK split in Syria might create some common ground and foster a closer relationship between the US and Turkey.
“Turkey and the US could support those in Syria who are closer to the US and the West and who prefer to stay away from the PKK,” he said.
While SDF commander Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's “historic” call, he said it applied only to the PKK and was “not related to us in Syria”.
Mr Abdi was a longtime PKK cadre, and his comments appear to be an attempt to justify the US-backed, Kurdish-majority SDF maintaining its weapons and existence as a bloc, even as it faces pressure from Damascus and Turkey to dissolve into a centralised military. Despite his deep ties to the PKK, the framing of fighters under his leadership as a separate entity is indicative of the challenges ahead.
Despised as an enemy of the state by Turkey, Ocalan is an iconic but distant figurehead for many Kurds. Whether those now leading the group across the region will heed his words is the crux of the matter in the weeks and months ahead.
More on Quran memorisation:
Results
Stage three:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-43
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
5. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
6. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) UAE-Team Emirates, at 24s
General Classification:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-13-02
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin Fenix, at 12s
4. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
5. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
6. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Oppenheimer
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Rawat Al Reef, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Noof KB, Richard Mullen, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Seven Skies, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qaiss Aboud
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Jabalini, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: UAE Arabian Derby – Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Dergham Athbah, Richard Mullen, Mohamed Daggash
7.30pm: Emirates Championship – Group 1 (PA) Dh1,000,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
8pm: Abu Dhabi Championship – Group 3 (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Irish Freedom, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The years Ramadan fell in May
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Read more about the coronavirus
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
88 Video's most popular rentals
Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
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