The Kurdistan Workers Party ceasefire of 1993 was a short lived ceasefire declared by
Abdullah Öcalan at a press conference. He held together with
Jalal Talabani
Jalal Talabani ( ku, مام جەلال تاڵەبانی, translit=Celal Talebanî; ar, جلال طالباني ; 1933 – 3 October 2017) was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the sixth president of Iraq from 2006 to 2014, as well as ...
ahead of
Newroz
Newroz or Nawroz ( ku, نەورۆز, Newroz) is the Kurdish celebration of Nowruz; the arrival of spring and new year in Kurdish culture. The lighting of the fires at the beginning of the evening of March 21 is the main symbol of Newroz among t ...
on the 17 March 1993.
Background
The
Kurdistan Workers' Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...
(PKK) waged a guerilla war against Turkey since 1984. Their demands initially included independence for a Kurdistan to be created out of the Kurdish areas in Turkey, but later transformed into a demand for more political and cultural freedom. In 1991, the Government of
Turgut Özal
Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...
ended the denial of the Kurdish identity by the Turkish government, a policy majorly implemented by the Turkish government since its
first constitution in 1924. Following, Öcalan gave interviews to several newspapers based in Turkey and spoke of his willingness to reach a political solution in the
conflict with Turkey.
History
At the press conference on 17 March with Jalal Talabani, the leader of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), three aspects of the ceasefire were pointed out.
* the ceasefire was of unconditional nature,
* the PKK has no intention to separate from Turkey and
* the conflict should be "resolved within nationally agreed borders"
A second press conference took place on 19 March, where
Kemal Burkay
Kemal Burkay (1937, Kizilkale, Mazgirt, Tunceli) is a writer and politician.
Biography
He attended his primary education in Tunceli and graduated from Ankara University, Law School in 1960.
Political career
In 1965 he joined the ''Türki ...
, a Kurdish politician from Turkey, signed an agreement with Öcalan, mentioning their support for the peace initiative.
No positive response towards the ceasefire was recorded by the Government of Turkey. To the contrary, further attacks on the Kurdish rural population followed the ceasefire announcement and an oppression of the politicians of the
People's Labor Party
The People's Labour Party ( tr, Halkın Emek Partisi, HEP), sometimes translated as the People's Work Party, was a pro- Kurdish political party in Turkey. It was founded on 7 June 1990 by seven members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly expel ...
(HEP) intensified
and as
Newroz
Newroz or Nawroz ( ku, نەورۆز, Newroz) is the Kurdish celebration of Nowruz; the arrival of spring and new year in Kurdish culture. The lighting of the fires at the beginning of the evening of March 21 is the main symbol of Newroz among t ...
was celebrated on 21 March 1993,
Alparslan Turkeş and
Erdal Inönü
Erdal may refer to:
Given name
* Erdal Akdarı, Turkish footballer
* Erdal Arıkan, Turkish professor in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department at Bilkent University
* Erdal Beşikçioğlu, Turkish actor
* Erdal Bibo, Turkish professi ...
, the party leaders of the
Nationalist Movement Party
The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has bee ...
(MHP) and the
Republican People's Party (CHP) assisted a reunion of Turkic people from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.
Then
Süleyman Demirel, the prime minister of Turkey at the time, also refused to negotiate with the PKK in a statement released on the 23 March 1993.
A third press conference took place on 16 April 1993 in
Bar Elias,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, where the ceasefire was prolonged indefinitely. To this event, Jalal Talabani,
Ahmet Türk
Ahmet Türk (born 2 July 1942, Derik, Turkey) is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). He has been a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for several terms and was elected twice as the Ma ...
from the HEP and again Kemal Burkay attended and also declared their support for the ceasefire.
A day later, on 17 April 1993, the Turkish President
Turgut Özal
Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...
died unexpectedly.
Doğan Güreş
Doğan Güreş (15 February 1926 – 14 October 2014) was a Turkish general and True Path Party politician.
Education
After he graduated from Kuleli Military High School in 1945, Güreş kept on studying at the Turkish Military Academy and acc ...
and
Tansu Çiller
Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She is Turkey's first and only female prime minister to date. As the leader of the True Path ...
, the chief of staff of the military and the prime minister at the time, both released statements against peace with the PKK and the latter was reported to have supported a military solution to the conflict.
Ahmet Türks assistance at the press conference was heavily criticized by the Turkish authorities
and the ceasefire ended after Turkish troops launched an attack on 19 May 1993, in which 13 members of the PKK were killed. On 24 May 1993, the
PKK ambushed and killed 33 Turkish soldiers and 5 civilians on the highway from
Elazığ
Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. It is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of . ...
to
Bingöl
Bingöl ( diq, Çolig; ku, Çewlik; hy, Ճապաղջուր, translit=Chapaghjur) is a city in Eastern Turkey and the capital of Bingöl Province.
Etymology
One of the historical names for the city, ''Bingöl'' literally means ''thousand lake ...
. On 8 June, Öcalan officially announced the end of the ceasefire.
[Özcan, Ali Kemal (2006), p.206]
Aftermath
In August 1993, Öcalan claimed that the failure of the peace process envisaged by the PKK during
İsmet Sezgin
İsmet Sezgin (6 January 1928 – 7 December 2016) was a Turkish politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and Minister of National Defense from 1997 to 1999, as the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly in 1995, as the Mini ...
tenure as Minister of the Interior, prevented him to assume as prime minister. After he was captured and
tried in 1999, he based his defense also on the cease fire of 1993.
[{{Cite web, title=CNN - Ocalan to base defense on request for cease-fire - March 18, 1999, url=http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9903/18/turkey.ocalan/index.html, access-date=2021-12-25, website=edition.cnn.com]
See also
*
Kurdish-Turkish peace initiatives 1991-2004
References
Ceasefires
Kurdish–Turkish peace process
Kurdistan Workers' Party