The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been in armed conflict with the Turkish state for more than four decades, has announced it will disband and dissolve as part of a peace process with Ankara.
“The PKK’s 12th Congress decided to dissolve the PKK’s organisational structure, end the armed struggle, with the practical process to be managed and carried out by Leader Apo [Abdullah Ocalan], and end the work carried out under the PKK name,” Firat news agency, affiliated with the group, said on Monday.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday that the PKK's decision to disband and end its armed struggle against the Turkish state is of "historic importance" for permanent peace in the region.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Syrian and Jordanian counterparts, Mr Fidan said there would be practical steps to be taken for the disbandment of the PKK, and that Turkey would follow the process closely.
The group, classified as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the European Union, held its congress on Friday to heed the call of its jailed leader to lay down arms, disband and enter a peace initiative with the Turkish state.
Omer Celik, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), said the PKK's decision was “an important stage in terms of the goal of a 'terror-free Turkey'” – a phrase Turkish government officials have used to describe overtures to the PKK.
Ocalan’s call in February ordering the dissolution came after a months-long process initiated by an ally of Mr Erdogan – the ultranationalist politician Devlet Bahceli – for Abdullah Ocalan to be given greater freedom in exchange for the PKK’s dissolution.
The PKK said it believes Kurdish political parties will fulfil their responsibilities by developing Kurdish democracy to “ensure democratic Kurdish nationhood”.
Kurdish officials, including those in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, have framed the talks with Turkey as dialogue aimed at peace and ensuring rights for Turkey's ethnically Kurdish citizens, who make up around one-fifth of the population. Turkey has continued striking the group's positions in the Kurdistan region.
Mr Fidan on Friday said disarmament alone was not sufficient, while Mr Erdogan has continued to publicly call for the group's eradication.
The PKK had previously said it would not heed any calls to disarm unless Ocalan was released from jail and a meeting could take place in person.
Many questions remain about how the PKK disarmament process will work in practice. It remains unclear if members will be granted an amnesty, and if those in Iraq and Syria will be allowed to return to Turkey.
The fate of imprisoned Kurdish politicians and militants also remains unclear. Ocalan is serving a life sentence on the island of Imrali in the Sea of Marmara, south of Istanbul, where he has been imprisoned since he was captured in Kenya in February 1999.
Berkay Mandiraci, Turkey analyst for International Crisis Group, told The National that Ankara's response to the decision will determine what happens next. “The Kurdish side is looking for some kind of a formalisation of the process – a law passed in parliament, so there is more clarity on the process,” he said.
It is difficult to envisage the process being disrupted, he added. Both Ankara and the PKK seem willing to make it work, “which makes one hopeful”, he said.
Turkish politicians have indicated that the disarming and dissolution process will not happen overnight and have said that it must extend to all branches and offshoots of the PKK.
“This decision must be implemented in practice and realised in all its dimensions,” Mr Celik added. “The concrete and complete implementation of the 'dissolution' and 'surrender of arms' decision, which will close all branches and extensions of the PKK and its illegal structures, will be a turning point. This process will be meticulously monitored in the field by our state institutions.”
The PKK was founded by Ocalan in 1978 and has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades, with about 40,000 killed on both sides. In recent years, the group's activity has been limited to the mountainous areas of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq and Syria, where PKK offshoots developed a presence.
The pro-Kurdish People's Equality and Democracy Party, also known as DEM Party, played a crucial role in mediating between the PKK and Ankara and has welcomed the congress.
On Sunday, the party announced the formation of the Democratic Unity Initiative, describing it as a “civil society platform” aimed at uniting Kurds across Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran to “build a democratic life”.
Nechirvan Barzani, President of Iraq's Kurdistan Region, said authorities are ready to offer support “for the success of this historic opportunity”.
He said in a statement posted on X: “Now is the time and all eyes are on this important step to be responded to with further positive and necessary steps by all parties concerned.”
Turkish government director of communications Fahrettin Altun said in a post on X that the process “is not a short-term and shallow process” that had emerged overnight. “Nor is it a process that will end very quickly from today to tomorrow,” he added, indicating that there is work still to be done to ensure that the PKK's pledge to disarm becomes reality.
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
The five pillars of Islam
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
MOTHER%20OF%20STRANGERS
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Suad%20Amiry%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Pantheon%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20304%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE DRAFT
The final phase of player recruitment for the T10 League has taken place, with UAE and Indian players being drafted to each of the eight teams.
Bengal Tigers
UAE players: Chirag Suri, Mohammed Usman
Indian: Zaheer Khan
Karachians
UAE players: Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabber
Indian: Pravin Tambe
Kerala Kings
UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Abdul Shakoor
Indian: RS Sodhi
Maratha Arabians
UAE players: Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
Indian: S Badrinath
Northern Warriors
UAE players: Imran Haider, Rahul Bhatia
Indian: Amitoze Singh
Pakhtoons
UAE players: Hafiz Kaleem, Sheer Walli
Indian: RP Singh
Punjabi Legends
UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Sandy Singh
Indian: Praveen Kumar
Rajputs
UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed
Indian: Munaf Patel
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
