Rabat — The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced today it will pull all its fighters out of Turkiye and relocate them to northern Iraq.
The move marks a significant step in what the group calls a “terrorism-free Turkiye” process. Ankara and various international powers have long designated the PKK as a terrorist group.
The withdrawal represents a new phase in the PKK’s plan to dissolve itself and lay down arms.
AFP reported that the move comes following calls from the party’s imprisoned founder, Abdullah Öcalan.
The PKK said in a statement that the decision implements resolutions from its 12th congress and has Öcalan’s approval.
The group aims to avoid potential clashes or provocations that could derail ongoing political negotiations with the Turkish government.
Some armed units have already reached what the PKK calls the “Media Defense Zones” in the Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq.
The party is taking similar precautionary measures along the border to maintain stability.
The announcement comes as a delegation from the Kurdish DEM Party prepares to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday.
DEM representatives have visited Öcalan several times in prison to discuss the Kurdish issue and the future of political negotiations.
The PKK statement describes the current withdrawal as an extension of a process that began last year with exchanges between Öcalan and Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party.
Those discussions stressed the need to build a peaceful, democratic society in Turkiye amid broader changes sweeping the Middle East.
In February, Öcalan called for the PKK to disband completely.
He urged fighters to abandon their weapons and shift to political activism, aiming to end decades of armed conflict between the party and the Turkish state.
In May, the group announced it would dissolve and end all its armed struggle against the Turkish state.
The decision comes after four decades of bloody conflict that killed over 40,000 and exerted a huge economic burden, fueling social tensions.
Turkiye welcomed the PKK’s decision, as it is paving the way to a legal framework for security and disarming the group.
