ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Tehran welcomes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) decision to dissolve itself and lay down arms, calling the move “an important step toward renouncing violence and strengthening security.” The PKK on Monday announced its dissolution and the end of its armed struggle against the Turkish state, marking what it described as a step toward a peaceful resolution to the decades-long conflict with Ankara. The announcement followed a party congress held from May 5 to 7 to consider the late February call from jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan to disarm, dissolve the group, and pursue a political struggle. “We consider the statement announcing the dissolution of the PKK an important step toward renouncing violence and strengthening security, and we hope that the completion of this process will lead to enhanced stability and peace in Turkey and the region,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmael Baghaei said in a statement. Iran has been long struggling with Kurdish opposition groups of its own that, like Turkey, it has labeled “terrorists.” The groups are the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), Komala, the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK). They were based in the Kurdistan Region close to the border with Iran before they were moved away from the frontier as part of a 2023 security pact signed between Baghdad and Tehran. The PKK is not directly active in Iran, but PJAK, widely seen as its offshoot in Iran, has carried out attacks against Tehran and is banned in Iran. Iran often sentences Kurdish political prisoners to execution on charges of "baghi" armed rebellion for alleged membership in the PKK or other Kurdish opposition groups.
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