PKK withdraws fighters from Turkey to Iraq

[ad_1] QANDIL, Iraq (AP) — A militant Kurdish group introduced on Sunday that it's withdrawing its fighters from Turkey to Iraq as a part of a peace effort with the Turkish authorities.

The assertion delivered in northern Iraq by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party , or PKK, follows a symbolic disarmament ceremony held months earlier, the place a bunch of its fighters started laying down their weapons to point out its dedication to the peace process .

The group has been waging a decades-long insurgency in Turkey that has led to tens of hundreds of deaths for the reason that Nineteen Eighties.

In a information convention, Sabri Okay, a member of the Kurdish umbrella group, the Kurdistan Communities Union, mentioned all PKK forces in Turkey have been being withdrawn to areas in northern Iraq “to keep away from clashes or provocations.”

In a press release learn in Turkish, Okay mentioned the transfer was made with the approval of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan . Vejin Dersim, a member of the PKK’s girls’s wing, learn the assertion in Kurdish.

“Additionally, comparable regulatory measures are being taken with regard to these positions alongside the border which may carry the danger of clashes and attainable provocations,” Okay mentioned.

The assertion additionally known as for authorized and political concessions on the a part of the Turkish state.

“It's fairly clear that we're dedicated to the resolutions of the twelfth Congress and decisive in implementing them,” the assertion mentioned. “Nonetheless, for these resolutions to be applied, sure authorized and political approaches ... have to be adopted.”

A gaggle of some 25 fighters who had not too long ago arrived from Turkey have been current on the information convention.

The PKK announced in May that it will disband and resign armed battle, ending 4 a long time of hostilities. The transfer got here after Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island close to Istanbul since 1999, urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm. In Could, the PKK introduced it will accomplish that.

In Turkey, Omer Celik, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling social gathering mentioned the PKK’s announcement was a step towards the state’s long-term aim of eradicating safety threats in Turkey.

“The PKK’s announcement that it's withdrawing from Turkey and taking new steps towards disarmament are concrete outcomes of the ‘Terror-free Turkey’ street map,” he wrote on X.

He warned in opposition to exterior and inside sabotage efforts, saying “most care have to be taken to guard the method from any form of provocation.”

Efkan Ala, a ruling social gathering deputy chairman, described the announcement as “the completion of one other vital part within the elimination of terrorism.”

Sunday’s announcement comes days earlier than Erdogan is scheduled to carry his third assembly with a bunch Kurdish legislators who've been holding talks with Ocalan on the jail island of Imrali.

A separate 51-member parliamentary committee was fashioned in August to suggest and supervise authorized and political reforms aimed toward advancing the peace course of following the PKK’s determination to disband and disarm. Their subsequent assembly is scheduled for Oct. 30.

PKK spokesman Zagros Hiwar mentioned Sunday’s announcement aimed to point out the PKK’s dedication to maneuver the method ahead.

“This can be a one-sided step to point out our assertiveness and seriousness that we wholeheartedly need this course of to maneuver ahead,” he advised The Related Press.

Hiwar nonetheless, additionally expressed disappointment with the Turkish authorities, accusing it of not taking steps to advance the method, together with permitting Kurdish to be spoken in Parliament and enhancing Ocalan’s situations.

“Thus far, there have been no indicators that the Turkish state has modified its mentality or politics,” he mentioned. They haven’t even allowed the peace initiators to talk in Kurdish on the parliament. This can be a signal that their denial politics continues to be ongoing and chief Ocalan continues to be in jail from 27 years.

Nuda Arin, one of many 25 fighters who arrived from Turkey, mentioned: “We're prepared to maneuver by chief Ocalan’s phrase and do all the things to make this course of profitable.”

The PKK launched its armed insurgency in opposition to Turkey initially with the intention of building a Kurdish state within the southeast of the nation. Over time, the target developed right into a marketing campaign for autonomy and rights for Kurds inside Turkey.

The group is taken into account to be a terrorist group by Turkey, the USA and the European Union.

Earlier peace efforts between Turkey and the PKK have resulted in failure — most not too long ago in 2015.

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Kiper reported from Bodrum, Turkey. Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed.

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