Erdogan says 'Turkey has won' after Kurdish PKK fighters disarm

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday his country had achieved victory after Kurdish rebels destroyed their weapons, ending their decades-long armed struggle against Ankara.

Friday’s symbolic weapons destruction ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan marked a major step in the transition of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from armed insurgency to democratic politics — part of a broader effort to end one of the region’s longest-running conflicts.

“Turkey has won. Eighty-six million citizens have won,” Erdogan said. “We know what we are doing. Nobody needs to worry or ask questions. We are doing all this for Turkey, for our future”.

The PKK was formed in 1978 by Ankara University students, with the ultimate goal of achieving the Kurds’ liberation through armed struggle. It took up arms in 1984 and the ensuing conflict has cost more than 40,000 lives.