Hope, concern and anger for households ready for warfare to finish

[ad_1] Sally Nabil BBC World Service

Reporting fromQandil Mountains, Iraq <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/45c4/live/ebddb200-52ad-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/45c4/live/ebddb200-52ad-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/45c4/live/ebddb200-52ad-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/45c4/live/ebddb200-52ad-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/45c4/live/ebddb200-52ad-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/45c4/live/ebddb200-52ad-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/45c4/live/ebddb200-52ad-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/45c4/live/ebddb200-52ad-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="MUSTAFA OZER/AFP via Getty Images) A PKK fighter holding an assault rifle silhouetted against the Sun" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> MUSTAFA OZER/AFP by way of Getty Photos) When the outlawed Kurdistan Employees' Get together (PKK) introduced final month that it will disband and finish its decades-long insurgency towards Turkey, Leila hoped she may quickly be reunited along with her son.

Three years in the past, the previous sandwich vendor left house to hitch the group - proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US, UK and EU - within the distant Qandil Mountains, close to Iraq's border with Iran.

Aside from two movies he is despatched, the final in March, Leila hasn't seen him since.

"Once I first heard in regards to the announcement I used to be very joyful," says Leila, whose title we've modified as a result of she fears reprisals from the group.

"However as time has handed, nothing has modified."

For 40 years the PKK has been at warfare with Turkey in a battle that has killed greater than 40,000 folks, lots of them civilians, and is likely one of the longest-running on this planet.

Some households the BBC spoke to bitterly condemned the PKK, whereas others spoke proudly of how relations had died preventing for the group and felt this sacrifice had paved the way in which for peace talks.

The PKK's announcement that it will cease preventing was seen as a historic second for Turkey, its Kurdish minority, and neighbouring international locations into which the battle has spilled over.

However since then, no formal peace course of with Turkey has begun and there's no official ceasefire in place, with reviews of killing persevering with on each side.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/b2cc/live/e81623b0-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/b2cc/live/e81623b0-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/b2cc/live/e81623b0-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/b2cc/live/e81623b0-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/b2cc/live/e81623b0-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/b2cc/live/e81623b0-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/b2cc/live/e81623b0-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/b2cc/live/e81623b0-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Supporters of the PKK gather in south-eastern Turkey after the group said it would disband. One of them is holding a large poster of the group's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photos Supporters of the PKK and its imprisoned chief Abdullah Ocalan (pictured) collect in south-eastern Turkey after the group final month stated it will disband

Initially arrange with the purpose of preventing for an impartial Kurdish state in Turkey, the PKK has, for the reason that Nineteen Nineties, shifted focus to demand larger cultural and political autonomy for the Kurds.

Leila, who lives within the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Area of Iraq, which borders Turkey, says she hadn't even heard of the PKK till her son, an Iraqi-Kurd in his twenties, got here house at some point speaking in regards to the group's ideologies.

She accuses the group of "brainwashing" her son, convincing him they have been defending the ethnic Kurdish minorities in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. The Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group within the Center East however should not have a nation state.

Leila says over time her son began to turn into extra impartial, making his mattress, washing his garments and doing the dishes. She now believes the PKK was getting ready him for the powerful life he would quickly be residing within the mountains.

On the day he left, he got here house with three "comrades" to inform his mom he was going to the mountains to start six months of coaching.

She says she repeatedly tried to dissuade him from becoming a member of the PKK however he was decided to go.

"He was so decided. Arguing with him would have been of no use."

Since then, Leila says she has repeatedly visited the Qandil Mountains within the hope of catching a glimpse of her son, however has by no means seen him.

"If they simply let me see him yearly, I'd be joyful," she says.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/f0e6/live/16f814d0-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/f0e6/live/16f814d0-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f0e6/live/16f814d0-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/f0e6/live/16f814d0-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/f0e6/live/16f814d0-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/f0e6/live/16f814d0-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/f0e6/live/16f814d0-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f0e6/live/16f814d0-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A narrow road can be seen at the bottom of the vast Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq, which are largely covered by trees and grass " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> It took the BBC hours of driving up slim, bumpy roads to achieve the Qandil Mountains, a stronghold of the PKK

The BBC travelled to the Qandil Mountains, having been granted uncommon entry by the PKK to movie there.

The mountains, that are sparsely populated and identified for his or her pure magnificence, assist protect hundreds of PKK fighters from Turkish air strikes.

The journey took hours of driving up slim, bumpy roads, in an space the place there are few indicators of inhabitation other than a handful of farmers and shepherds.

Because the BBC approached a PKK checkpoint, we noticed giant photos of the group's chief and founding member Abdullah Ocalan - imprisoned by Turkey in solitary confinement since 1999 - displayed throughout the mountains. However when the BBC reached the checkpoint, the PKK denied us entry.

We have been later advised by PKK authorities that talks are underway with the group and they didn't need media consideration.

They didn't say what the talks have been about, although Iraq's International Minister Fuad Mohammed Hussein final month advised the BBC discussions can be happening with the PKK, Turkey, Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Authorities to debate how the group's weapons can be handed over.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/09ab/live/48d21db0-4779-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/09ab/live/48d21db0-4779-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/09ab/live/48d21db0-4779-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/09ab/live/48d21db0-4779-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/09ab/live/48d21db0-4779-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/09ab/live/48d21db0-4779-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/09ab/live/48d21db0-4779-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/09ab/live/48d21db0-4779-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A giant image of the PKK's leader and founding member Abdullah Ocalan is attached to one of the mountains" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Massive photos of the PKK's chief and founding member Abdullah Ocalan - imprisoned by Turkey in solitary confinement since 1999 - are displayed from the Qandil Mountains

Disarmament 'not up for dialogue'

Thus far, the phrases of a potential peace deal between Turkey and the PKK are unknown.

The PKK advised the BBC in a written assertion that it's honest and critical in regards to the course of, insisting its chief, Ocalan, should be freed.

"The ball is now in Turkey's court docket. A peace course of can't develop based mostly on unilateral steps," stated Zagros Hiwa, the spokesman for the PKK-linked Kurdistan Democratic Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group of regional Kurdish organisations.

However in a potential signal of the hurdles forward, a senior native commander, who's a part of the second line of management throughout the group in Iraq, advised the BBC in a written assertion that in his view disarmament is "not up for dialogue".

Nonetheless suspicious about Turkey's intentions, he provides that "after we tackle the explanations of the armed battle, weapons can be of no use for each side".

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's obvious willingness to convey an finish to the battle with the PKK has been interpreted by some as a bid to draw Kurdish assist for a brand new structure to increase his 22-year-rule, which he denies.

He has described the PKK's resolution to disband as an essential step in direction of "our aim of a Turkey with out terrorism".

Writing on X, the Turkish president stated a brand new period was about to start after "the elimination of terror and violence".

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/3a39/live/fcff6160-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/3a39/live/fcff6160-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3a39/live/fcff6160-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/3a39/live/fcff6160-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/3a39/live/fcff6160-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3a39/live/fcff6160-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/3a39/live/fcff6160-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3a39/live/fcff6160-52a2-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, dressed in suit and tie, speaks at a podium in front of Turkey's flag" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photos Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied he's making an attempt to vary the structure in order that he can keep on when his time period ends in three years' time

For some households whose family members have been killed preventing for the PKK, the thought the battle may quickly finish is bitter-sweet.

Kawa Takoor was 21 when he was killed two years in the past. His sister, Rondek Takoor, who lives in Iraqi Kurdish metropolis of Sulaimaniya, final noticed him within the Qandil Mountains in 2019.

Talking from the household house, the place photographs of Kawa adorn the lounge partitions, Rondek says her brother's loss of life modified the household's life. "I all the time dream about him," she says with tearful eyes.

Rondek, who's in her twenties, nonetheless remembers the final dialog that they had collectively.

"I requested him if he want to return house with me and he stated 'by no means'. He even requested me to hitch him within the mountains," she says.

For Rondek and her household, who're pro-PKK, the group disbanding can be each a second of "delight and ache, particularly after our enormous loss".

She believes that "it is the sacrifices we have made and the martyrs we have misplaced, that paved the way in which for leaders to speak peace".

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/6eeb/live/f3d67090-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/6eeb/live/f3d67090-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6eeb/live/f3d67090-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/6eeb/live/f3d67090-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/6eeb/live/f3d67090-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/6eeb/live/f3d67090-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/6eeb/live/f3d67090-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6eeb/live/f3d67090-4778-11f0-915e-3595f829bdc8.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A young man with short, dark hair, dressed in combat clothing, smiles at the camera" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Kawa Takoor was killed two years in the past whereas preventing for the PKK

What occurs subsequent is unsure.

There are questions on what would occur to hundreds of Turkish PKK fighters and whether or not they can be allowed to reintegrate into Turkish society.

Turkish officers have but to say whether or not these fighters can be handled as criminals and face prosecution. However Turkish media reviews have advised fighters who have not dedicated crimes in Turkey might return with out concern of prosecution, although PKK leaders could be compelled into exile to different international locations or required to remain in Iraq.

It's also unclear what the group disbanding would imply for different Kurdish teams, notably in north-east Syria, which Turkey regards as being off-shoots of the PKK.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/364c/live/188b13c0-52a3-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/364c/live/188b13c0-52a3-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/364c/live/188b13c0-52a3-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/364c/live/188b13c0-52a3-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/364c/live/188b13c0-52a3-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/364c/live/188b13c0-52a3-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/364c/live/188b13c0-52a3-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/364c/live/188b13c0-52a3-11f0-90c3-576318da68e3.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Parents in late middle-age are sat together, holding framed photographs of their children in front of what appears to be a building" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photos Dad and mom of those that joined the PKK sit in entrance of the headquarters of the pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy Get together final month after the PKK's introduced its dissolution

Through the Syrian civil warfare, Turkish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian fighters launched a sequence of offensives to seize border areas held by a Syrian Kurdish militia referred to as the Folks's Safety Models (YPG).

The YPG dominates an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias referred to as the Syrian Democratic Forces, which drove the Islamic State group out of 1 / 4 of Syria with the assistance of a US-led multinational coalition.

The YPG says it's a distinct entity from the PKK, however Turkey rejects that and proscribes it as a terrorist organisation.

Erdogan has stated the PKK's resolution to disband ought to "cowl all extensions of the organisation in Northern Iraq, Syria and Europe". SDF commander Mazloum Abdi stated the PKK's resolution would "pave the way in which for a brand new political and peaceable course of within the area".

Nevertheless, he has additionally stated that the PKK's disarmament doesn't apply to the SDF, which signed a separate deal to merge with the Syrian armed forces in December.

In Iran, the PJAK group, which can be a part of the KCK, has advised BBC Turkish that it helps the "new course of" in Turkey, however that it's not planning to disarm or disband itself.

PJAK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and Iran. There was a de facto ceasefire between the group and the Iranian authorities since 2011.

Turkey says the PJAK is the Iranian arm of the PKK, however the Kurdish teams deny this.

'This metropolis has introduced me nothing however ache'

For moms like Leila, all of the complexities of politics and the intricate stability of navy powers throughout the area are irrelevant. What she cares about is having her son along with her once more.

"He'll come again house when he will get uninterested in the tough life within the mountains, in some unspecified time in the future he'll realise that he can take it no extra."