PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan Salutes Group’s Historic Dissolution at 12th Congress
In a message released on Tuesday, Ocalan conveyed his respect and approval of the congress, held from Nov. 5 to 7, and paid tribute to senior PKK figures Ali Haydar Kaytan and Riza Altun, whose deaths were announced recently.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan has expressed his support for the decisions made during the group’s 12th Congress, where the PKK officially announced its dissolution in response to his call.
In a message released on Tuesday, Ocalan conveyed his respect and approval of the congress, held from Nov. 5 to 7, and paid tribute to senior PKK figures Ali Haydar Kaytan and Riza Altun, whose deaths were announced recently.
“I respectfully salute the decisions made at the historic 12th Congress and the messages for the upcoming period,” Ocalan said in the statement.
The congress marked a pivotal shift in the PKK’s trajectory, with the organization declaring its official dissolution after decades of armed struggle. The move aligns with Ocalan’s long-standing calls for a new political and ideological approach grounded in democratic communalism.
Ocalan praised Kaytan and Altun, describing their contributions as vital to the Kurdish national struggle and the evolution of the movement's ideology.
“Their place in our struggle for national existence and democratic communalism is eternal. They will continue to serve as fundamental sources of inspiration for the paradigm and institutionalization of the new era,” he said.
Though held in long-term solitary confinement on Turkey’s İmralı Island since 1999, Ocalan remains a central ideological figure for the PKK and affiliated Kurdish movements. His message indicates continued influence over the group’s direction, even as it transitions away from its militant past.
