ANKARA: Turkish security forces have killed 26 Kurdish militants in the past week, the Turkish defense ministry said Thursday, even as the militants’ imprisoned leader called on his group to disband and his fighters declared a ceasefire.
A defense ministry statement said the militants were killed in military operations in areas including the north of Iraq and Syria. It did not provide details on the circumstances of the clashes.
“Our Turkish Armed Forces will continue its operations and its search-and-scan activities in the region for the survival and security of our country,” the ministry said. It added the military would “continue the fight against terrorism with determination until not a single terrorist remains.”
The banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, declared a ceasefire in the 40-year insurgency against the Turkish government on Saturday, responding to a call to disarm by the group’s leader, Abdullah Ocalan, on Feb. 27.
Ocalan’s call and the PKK’s declaration were part of an effort to end the conflict that was initiated in October by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ally, Devlet Bahceli, who is the leader of Turkiye’s far-right nationalist party.
Ocalan, who has been serving a life-term on a prison island off Istanbul since 1999, urged his group to convene a congress and take the decision to disband. The PKK has appealed for Ocalan to be released from prison, to “personally direct and execute” a congress.
Meanwhile, the leader of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has said Ocalan’s call for a ceasefire does not apply to his group in Syria.
The Turkish government, however, says all Kurdish groups it claims are tied to the PKK — whether in Turkiye, Syria or Iraq — must disband.
Erdogan warned last week that Turkiye would “always keep our iron fist ready in case the hand we extend is left in the air or bitten.” He said military operations would continue, if necessary.
The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK has led to tens of thousands of deaths since it began in 1984. The ceasefire is the first sign of a breakthrough since peace talks between the PKK and Ankara broke down in the summer of 2015.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye and its Western allies.

LONDON: Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Al-Safadi, attended a ministerial meeting in Saudi Arabia on Thursday to discuss regional and international issues with his counterparts from Gulf Cooperation Council member states and other Arab countries.

The ministers met to discuss relations between GCC members Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE, as well as Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Morocco, and ways in which they might be strengthened in light of regional and international developments.

A particular focus of the meeting was expected to be the enhancement of strategic relations and collaborations in the service of shared interests, and the coordination of efforts to support security and stability in the region, the Jordan News Agency reported.

The talks took place on the sidelines of the GCC’s 163rd Ministerial Council meeting chaired by Kuwait’s foreign minister, Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya, the current president of the council session.

Earlier in the week, Arab heads of state and other top officials met in Cairo to discuss the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by 15 months of Israeli military action, and to oppose a proposal by US President Donald Trump for the displacement of Palestinians from the territory.