ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Sunday announced that they are withdrawing all fighters from Turkey in the framework of the peace process with Ankara.
"Based on the 12th Congress decisions, we are carrying out the withdrawal of all our forces within Turkey's borders that pose a conflict risk and are open to possible provocations to the Medya Defense Areas, based on Leader Abdullah Ocalan's approval. Some of the groups that have reached the Medya Defense Areas are currently here and are personally participating in this announcement. Additionally, similar corrective measures are being taken in positions in border areas that pose conflict risks and are open to possible provocations," said the PKK in a press conference near PKK headquarters on Mount Qandil.
It added that the steps it has so far taken "demonstrate our determination and clear stance in implementing the PKK's 12th Congress decisions."
On February 27, Ocalan called on followers to dissolve the party and lay down arms. In May, the PKK positively responded to the call. On July 11, a group of PKK fighters burned their weapons in Jasana Cave in Sulaimani province in a symbolic disarmament as part of the peace process. A Turkish parliamentary commission is now formulating the legal foundations for peace with the PKK.
"During the past eight months, we as the Kurdish side have taken major steps of historic importance based on the Peace and Democratic Society call [from Ocalan]," said the PKK in its Sunday statement.
The Turkish version of the announcement was read out by Senior PKK commander Sabri Ok and the Kurdish version was read out by Vejin Dersim, a senior fighter of PKK's all-women wing.
Omer Celik, spokesperson for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), reacted positively to PKK's decision.
"The PKK's decision to withdraw from Turkey and the announcement that new steps will be taken towards the disarmament process are concrete results of the progress in the 'terror-free Turkey' roadmap," he said on X. Ankara refers to the peace process with the Kurdish group as "terror-free Turkey."
"The withdrawal of terrorist elements from Turkey and the announcement of new steps regarding disarmament are advances in line with the main goal," he added. "From now on, taking steps towards the uninterrupted continuation of the disarmament and dissolution process will ensure the achievement of the goals."
Celik linked progress in the work of the parliamentary commission to developments regarding PKK's dissolution and disarmament processes.
The Sunday ceremony was attended by some of the PKK fighters who had withdrawn from Turkey as part of the move, according to the PKK.
The PKK stated that it expects Ankara to implement legal reforms specifically addressing the organization.
"In this framework, PKK-specific Transitional Law should be taken as the basis, and the necessary freedom and democratic integration laws for participation in democratic politics should be enacted without delay."
Impact on economy
Mehmet Kaya, Chairman of the Diyarbakir Chamber of Commerce, told Rudaw that the PKK's decision to fully withdraw fighters from Turkey will not have an immediate impact on the country's economy, adding that several peace attempts between Ankara and the PKK failed in the past.
"These steps need to be developed a bit more because the organization's withdrawal alone is not enough; the government needs to quickly reintegrate the members of the organization that dissolves itself - especially those originally from Turkey - into society and disarm them," he said.
"For this, alongside the steps taken by the organization, the government needs to take steps within the same framework to strengthen this and make peace irreversible because in such processes, a provocation can trigger the process at any moment and poison it. To prevent this, both the organization and the state need to rapidly increase mutual confidence-building steps. The economy doesn't come immediately after one step; the economy requires complete stability, it requires lasting peace because investments are made for the long term; these are not one or two-year investments," he added.
The Kurdish businessman also called for "legal and judicial arrangement" to be taken to make sure the PKK members can return to Turkey and have "normal' lives.
