Latest Kurdistan Workers Party News

Mayor of opposition Istanbul stronghold arrested over bid-rigging claims

Jan. 13, 2025 05:41 AM EST

ISTANBUL (AP) — The mayor of one of Turkey’s opposition strongholds was arrested Monday as part of a bid-rigging investigation, prosecutors in Istanbul said. Riza Akpolat, who heads Besiktas municipality on the city’s European side, was detained at his summer house in Edremit...

What to know about the latest effort to bring an end to Turkey's 40-year Kurdish conflict

Jan. 13, 2025 00:10 AM EST

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Talks between politicians from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party and jailed Kurdish leaders have been gathering steam as they try to end 40 years of fighting between the state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The latest peace effort comes at a time of...

Turkey's Kurdish leaders meet jailed politician as the two sides inch toward peace

Jan. 11, 2025 11:25 AM EST

ISTANBUL (AP) — A delegation from one of Turkey's biggest pro-Kurdish political parties met a leading figure of the Kurdish movement in prison Saturday, the latest step in a tentative process to end the country’s 40-year conflict, the party said. Three senior figures from the...

Turkey's imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader says he is willing to work with authorities for peace

Dec. 29, 2024 10:47 AM EST

ISTANBUL (AP) — Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Turkey's banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has said that he is willing to contribute to peace between Turks and Kurds, in a statement issued by the pro-Kurdish DEM party Sunday. “I possess the necessary...

Kurdish-led forces push back Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in a tense offensive

Dec. 24, 2024 17:59 PM EST

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, said Tuesday they have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey. The Kurdish-led SDF is...