As part of the ongoing peace process, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has announced a new step, declaring that it has begun withdrawing its forces from Turkey.
A ceremony marking the move was held yesterday in the rural Raperîn area near the group’s stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located in the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.
Twenty-five militants who had recently withdrawn from Turkey took part in the event. They represented the PKK’s main armed wing, the People’s Defense Forces (HPG), and its women’s branch, Women's Freedom Units (YJA-Star).
'Threats to Turkey and Kurds'
The declaration was read out in Turkish by Sabri Ok, a member of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the PKK’s umbrella organization, and in Kurdish by Vejîn Dersîm, a commander in YJA-Star, according to videos published by Fırat News Agency (ANF).
Ok said the peace process had begun when “the regional situation became a serious threat to the future of both Turkey and the Kurds,” and it was now entering a critical phase.
“Over the past eight months, as the Kurdish side, we have taken historic and significant steps,” he said. Following its imprisoned founder Abdullah Öcalan’s February call for the group to dissolve itself, the PKK announced in May that it had formally decided to disband, and held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in July.
The peace process, which seeks to end four decades of armed conflict, was initiated after Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader and government ally Devlet Bahçeli proposed in October last year that Öcalan could benefit from the “right to hope” in exchange for dissolving the organization. Right to hope is a legal concept that could potentially lead to the release of Öcalan after over 26 years of imprisonment.
“These historic steps taken by the Kurdish side, under the leadership of Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK, have profoundly influenced Turkey’s political and social climate,” Ok asserted. “The Kurdish people’s courageous and selfless stance for peace, democracy, and freedom has been met with appreciation both inside and outside Turkey.”
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'Potential risk zones'
Ok noted that the PKK is withdrawing all its forces from areas “where clashes could occur or provocations could arise,” relocating them to the Kurdistan region.
“Some of the groups that reached the Media Defense Zones are already here and participating in this statement,” he said. “Corrective measures are also being taken in positions near the border that carry similar risks.”
The number of PKK attacks in rural areas within Turkey's borders have significantly reduced in recent years, with Turkey's cross-border military bases becoming the frontline of the conflict.
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Since 2017, Turkey has maintained a continuous military presence in the mountainous areas of the Kurdistan region bordering Turkey, covering much of the two countries' shared frontier, as part of its military operations against the PKK.
While these operations are widely believed to have significantly reduced the PKK’s ability to infiltrate the border, intermittent clashes continued in Kurdistan Regional Government territory, resulting in the deaths of over 100 Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) personnel in 2023 alone, according to official figures.
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Call for legal steps
The government should respond to the PKK's move by taking legal steps, Ok suggested.
"In this context, a Transitional Law specific to the PKK should be established, and legislation ensuring democratic participation and freedoms must be enacted without delay,” he said.
In August, parliament formed a committee to outline the framework for legal arrangements related to the peace process.
The committee, which has been hearing various stakeholders, is reportedly preparing legislation that would include the PKK under the designation of a “dissolved organization,” providing a legal basis unique to its situation.
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Pro-Kurdish DEM Party co-chairs Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları also held a press conference today, calling on the government to move forward with the legal phase of the process.
Bakırhan described yesterday’s announcement as “a historic moment,” saying that the first phase of the process had ended and that a much more critical “legal and political” phase was now beginning. “The process must advance through laws, rights, and freedoms,” he said.
He added that Öcalan “should be given the opportunity and means to play a more active role in the process,” apparently referring to the “right to hope.”
Hatimoğulları likewise called for swift political and legal action. “As part of our responsibility to Turkish society, embracing peace despite doubts and concerns is of great value,” she said, appealing to intellectuals to support the process.
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