Kurdish rebel group PKK says it is withdrawing its fighters from Turkey to Iraq

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QANDIL, Iraq (AP) — A militant Kurdish group announced on Sunday that it is withdrawing its fighters from Turkey to Iraq as part of a peace effort with the Turkish government.

The statement delivered in northern Iraq by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, follows a symbolic disarmament ceremony held months earlier, where a group of its fighters began laying down their weapons to show its commitment to the peace process.

The group has been waging a decades-long insurgency in Turkey that has led to tens of thousands of deaths since the 1980s.

In a news conference, Sabri Ok, a member of the Kurdish umbrella organization, the Kurdistan Communities Union, said all PKK forces in Turkey were being withdrawn to areas in northern Iraq "to avoid clashes or provocations.”

In a statement read in Turkish, Ok said the move was made with the approval of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. Vejin Dersim, a member of the PKK's women's wing, read the statement in Kurdish.

“Also, similar regulatory measures are being taken with regard to those positions along the border which could carry the risk of clashes and possible provocations,” Ok said.

The statement also called for legal and political concessions on the part of the Turkish state.

"It is quite clear that we are committed to the resolutions of the 12th congress and decisive in implementing them," the statement said. "However, for these resolutions to be implemented, certain legal and political approaches ... need to be adopted."

A group of some 25 fighters who had recently arrived from Turkey were present at the news conference.

The PKK announced in May that it would disband and renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of hostilities. The move came after Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm.

In Turkey, Omer Celik, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, said the PKK’s announcement was a step toward the state’s long-term goal of eradicating security threats in Turkey.

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

He warned against external and internal sabotage efforts, saying “maximum care must be taken to protect the process from any kind of provocation.”

Efkan Ala, a ruling party deputy chairman, described the announcement as “the completion of another significant phase in the elimination of terrorism.”

Sunday's announcement comes days before Erdogan is scheduled to hold his third meeting with a group Kurdish legislators who have been holding talks with Ocalan on the prison island of Imrali.

A separate 51-member parliamentary committee was formed in August to propose and supervise legal and political reforms aimed at advancing the peace process following the PKK’s decision to disband and disarm. Their next meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

PKK spokesman Zagros Hiwa said Sunday's announcement aimed to show the PKK’s determination to move the process forward.

“This is a one-sided step to show our assertiveness and seriousness that we wholeheartedly want this process to move forward,” he told The Associated Press.

Hiwa, however, also expressed disappointment with the Turkish government, accusing it of not taking steps to advance the process, including allowing Kurdish to be spoken in Parliament and improving Ocalan’s conditions.

“So far, there have been no signs that the Turkish state has changed its mentality or politics,” he said. “They haven’t even allowed the peace initiators to speak in Kurdish at the parliament. This is a sign that their denial politics is still ongoing and leader Ocalan is still in prison from 27 years.”

Nuda Arin, one of the 25 fighters who arrived from Turkey, said: “We are ready to move by leader Ocalan’s word and do everything to make this process successful.”

The PKK launched its armed insurgency against Turkey initially with the aim of establishing a Kurdish state in the southeast of the country. Over time, the objective evolved into a campaign for autonomy and rights for Kurds within Turkey.

The group is considered to be a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Previous peace efforts between Turkey and the PKK have ended in failure — most recently in 2015.

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Kiper reported from Bodrum, Turkey. Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

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This story corrects the spelling of PKK spokeman’s family name to Hiwa.