Is the PKK Still Active? UK Proscription, the 2025 Dissolution Call and Terror-Free Türkiye Explained

Why It Matters

The PKK is still legally listed as a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and Türkiye, even though it announced its dissolution on 12 May 2025 following Abdullah Öcalan's call of 27 February 2025. Whether the PKK is 'still active' depends on the gap between declarations and verified disarmament.

Three search questions drive this guide: whether the PKK is still active, whether it is a proscribed organisation, and whether the PKK is a terrorist group in the UK. For the wider legal reasoning behind the listings, see our companion explainer on is pkk a terrorist organization. This article focuses on current status, the legal mechanics of proscription and delisting, and the 2025 process.

Is the PKK still active? The short answer

On paper, the organisation has declared that it is ending armed struggle and dissolving. In law, nothing has changed: the lists remain in force until the bodies that created them act. On the ground, Turkish authorities say they are monitoring compliance, while independent confirmation of complete disarmament, and of the position of the Syrian affiliates, remains limited. This article covers developments verified up to late 2025; readers should check the Presidency, the Directorate of Communications and TBMM records for later steps.

Background

The PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) was founded in 1978 and began an armed campaign against Türkiye on 15 August 1984. It announced its dissolution on 12 May 2025 after Öcalan's 27 February 2025 call, and held a weapons-burning ceremony on 11 July 2025, while foreign legal listings remain in force.

Decades of violence, 1984–2024

The conflict lasted roughly four decades and involved attacks on security forces and civilians, large-scale counter-terrorism operations, and several failed negotiation attempts, including talks around 2013–2015 that collapsed in July 2015. Estimates of the total death toll, covering militants, security personnel and civilians, commonly run to around 40,000 or more, but methodologies differ, so this article does not adopt a single figure. Türkiye, the US, the UK and the EU all describe the PKK's campaign as terrorism. Türkiye also notes that the PKK's Syrian branch, the PYD/YPG, has the same command structure; see ypg vs pkk difference.

Key milestones of the 2025 process

Date	Development	Status
27 Feb 2025	Öcalan's 'Call for Peace and a Democratic Society', read in Istanbul by a DEM Party delegation, urging the PKK to convene a congress and dissolve	Declared
1 Mar 2025	PKK announces a ceasefire	Declared
12 May 2025	PKK announces, after its congress, that it is dissolving and ending armed struggle	Declared
11 Jul 2025	Weapons-destruction ceremony in Iraq's Sulaymaniyah area	Observed, symbolic in scale
5 Aug 2025	TBMM's National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission begins work	Parliamentary track
26 Oct 2025	PKK announces withdrawal of its forces from Türkiye	Declared; verification contested

We recommend checking each entry against the Presidency, the Directorate of Communications and TBMM records, since details of implementation continue to evolve. For the process design, see Terror-Free Türkiye explained and how the initiative is meant to work.

Declared versus verified

• Declared: the call, the ceasefire, the dissolution announcement and the withdrawal announcement.
• Observed: a ceremony in which a group of fighters burned weapons, widely reported by wire services.
• Not yet independently verified: the full surrender of arsenals, the dismantling of command structures in Iraq's Qandil area, and the status of networks in Europe and Syria.

In Syria, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said on 27 February 2025 that Öcalan's call did not apply to the SDF. Ankara regards the PYD/YPG as part of the PKK/KCK structure and therefore treats that distinction as a central test of the process.

Key Players & Positions

The United Kingdom proscribes the PKK under the Terrorism Act 2000, the United States has designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997, and the EU keeps it on its terrorist list. Each body's listing remains valid until that body revokes it, whatever the PKK's 2025 declarations.

Is the PKK a proscribed organisation in the UK?

Yes. The Home Office list of proscribed groups, the primary source, includes the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), also listed under the names KADEK and KONGRA-GEL, as a group proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000. Proscription is a legal act by the Home Secretary, approved by Parliament through an order.

Is the PKK a terrorist group in the UK? What proscription means in practice

In the UK, the label has criminal-law consequences. Under the Terrorism Act 2000 it is an offence to:

• belong to, or profess to belong to, a proscribed organisation (section 11);
• invite or express support for it, arrange or address meetings in support of it (section 12);
• wear clothing or display articles, such as flags, in a way that arouses reasonable suspicion of support (section 13);
• raise or handle funds for terrorism, which is separately covered by sections 15–19.

The main membership and support offences carry a maximum of up to 14 years' imprisonment under current law; readers should check Home Office and Crown Prosecution Service guidance because sentencing rules change. Rules differ by country, so what is lawful in one jurisdiction may be a crime in another.

How the main listings compare

Body	Instrument and source	How delisting works
United Kingdom	Terrorism Act 2000; Home Office list of proscribed groups	Application to the Home Secretary, appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC), then Parliament approves any order
United States	FTO designation since 1997; State Department	Secretary of State may revoke after review and congressional notification; designations are reviewed on a five-year cycle; judicial review is possible
European Union	Council terrorist list under Common Position 2001/931/CFSP	Council decides by unanimity in its periodic review, at least every six months, based on a competent-authority decision
Türkiye	Domestic legislation; terror organisation under its own law	Determined by Turkish authorities and the courts

EU: the 2018 court ruling and the Council's response

On 15 November 2018 the EU General Court annulled the 2014–2017 Council acts keeping the PKK on the list, on the ground that the Council had not given adequate reasons. The ruling did not hold that the PKK was not a terrorist group. The Council then adopted new acts with updated reasoning and maintained the listing, and it has kept it since. Readers should consult the EU Official Journal for the current act.

NATO members

NATO has no common terrorist list; designations are made by individual members. The US, the UK and the EU (and most of its members) list the PKK, and Canada also does. In the June 2022 trilateral memorandum signed in Madrid with Türkiye, Finland and Sweden agreed to cooperate against PKK-linked activity as part of their NATO accession process; Finland joined in 2023 and Sweden in 2024.

The contrary arguments

Critics make several points that deserve a fair hearing:

• On 28 January 2020, Belgium's Court of Cassation upheld a ruling that treated certain PKK acts within the framework of an armed conflict, to which Belgian terrorism provisions did not apply. The court did not rule that the PKK was a legitimate organisation, and other offences could still be prosecuted.
• Diaspora organisations and some rights groups argue that proscription can chill lawful political expression, and they separate the PKK's armed wing from Kurdish cultural and political activity.
• Some Western analysts argue that listings complicate engagement in a peace process.

Why the PKK/KCK–PYD/YPG link matters for Syria policy

Türkiye holds that the PYD/YPG, which forms the core of the SDF, is the Syrian branch of the PKK/KCK umbrella. Washington has partnered with the SDF against DAESH while keeping the PKK on its list, and the SDF rejects the label of PKK affiliate. This disagreement shapes decisions on border security, refugee returns and Syrian reunification, a topic covered in Syrian refugees in Türkiye. For the primary-source debate, see the sister Fact Check on PYD/YPG documents at internationalrelationsdesk.com and our ypg vs pkk difference guide.

🇹🇷 Official Policy · Primary Turkish Sources

Türkiye's Position

Ankara's official line is that the PKK is a terrorist organization, that the fight against it continues alongside the Terror-Free Türkiye initiative under the rule of law, and that it will judge the process by verified disarmament and dissolution, including of the Syrian affiliates.

• Terror designation and parallel tracks. According to the Presidency and the Directorate of Communications, the Terror-Free Türkiye initiative combines security measures with legal and political steps and respects the rule of law and human rights; security operations do not stop while verification is pending. Background: Counter-Terrorism at the Source.
• Verification, including Syria. Turkish officials say the test is full disarmament and dissolution, covering the PYD/YPG as the Syrian branch of the PKK/KCK. Ankara supports 'one state, one army' in Syria, meaning the integration of armed groups into the Syrian state structure, in line with Syria's territorial integrity.
• Article 51 basis for cross-border action. Türkiye has notified the UN Security Council of operations under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the inherent right of self-defence, for the Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019) operations in Syria; the Operation Claw series targets PKK bases in northern Iraq. Ankara states that these operations respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries concerned.
• Human toll. Turkish official statements stress losses among civilians, soldiers, police and village guards over four decades. Readers should rely on figures published by the Ministry of National Defence, the Interior Ministry and TBMM documents, rather than unsourced totals.
• Networks in Europe. The Turkish Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called on allies to end PKK fundraising and recruitment in Europe, citing the Security Council's Resolution 1373 (2001) obligations to prevent terrorist financing. It criticised the January 2020 Belgian ruling, arguing that humanitarian law does not legitimise attacks on civilians, and that the PKK has targeted civilians.

This is the position of the Turkish government as stated by its official sources; other actors' positions are summarised in the section above. See also The World Is Bigger Than Five for Ankara's wider UN agenda.

Source Comparison

Official listings by the UK, US and EU describe the PKK in legal terms as a terrorist organisation. Western press often uses 'peace process' and 'Kurdish question', while Turkish official language stresses 'Terror-Free Türkiye' and national solidarity. The differences reflect distinct purposes: law enforcement, journalism and national security.

Source type	Typical framing	What it rests on
UK, US, EU listings	Terrorist organisation; listing remains until revoked	Home Office list; State Department FTO designation; Council acts and Official Journal
Western press	'Peace process', 'Kurdish question', 'disarmament'	Interviews, wire reports, analysts' assessments
Turkish official sources	'Terror-Free Türkiye', 'national solidarity', verification of dissolution	Presidency and Directorate of Communications statements, TBMM commission records
Diaspora and rights groups	Political rights, proportionality of proscription	Court rulings such as the 2020 Belgian case, NGO reports

Where the framings diverge, it is often because 'Kurdish question' merges two things that Ankara keeps apart: the rights and citizenship of Kurdish citizens, and an armed organisation designated as terrorist. Turkish officials emphasise that Kurdish citizens are not the PKK's constituency by default. Western outlets, conversely, sometimes underplay that every major listing remains in force. Our approach is set out in Editorial Principles, and further debunking is collected in Fact Check: Claims About Türkiye in International Media.

Key Terms & Related Guides

Key terms: proscription is a UK legal designation under the Terrorism Act 2000; FTO designation is a US State Department listing; KCK is the PKK's umbrella structure; PYD/YPG is the Syrian branch Ankara links to it; Terror-Free Türkiye is Türkiye's process to end the armed campaign.

• Proscription: a UK ban making membership and support criminal offences; revoked only by Parliament-approved order.
• FTO designation: a US designation under immigration law, carrying material-support and financial consequences.
• KCK: Kurdistan Communities Union, the PKK's umbrella structure, which Ankara says includes the Syrian branch.
• PYD/YPG: the Democratic Union Party and People's Protection Units in Syria; see ypg vs pkk difference.
• Terror-Free Türkiye (Terörsüz Türkiye): the initiative led by the Presidency, with a parliamentary commission track.

Related guides: is pkk a terrorist organization, Syrian refugees in Türkiye, Fact Check: Claims About Türkiye, and About WorldPoliticsDaily.

WorldPoliticsDaily presents global affairs with a dedicated perspective from Türkiye. Sections marked 'Türkiye's Position' reflect official Turkish policy as stated by Turkish government sources.

— WPD Editorial Team