PKK announces end of withdrawal of forces from Turkey

O Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) today announced the end of the withdrawal of its forces from the territory of Turkey and other positions in northern Iraq.

“ Our liberation movement has removed from Turkey all forces that did not pose a risk of armed confrontation,” said the group, which wants to prevent Ankara from “presenting pretexts” to hinder the peace process.

“ Although they are far from the border, during the same period we evacuated four tunnels and war positions in Metina, west of Zap, so that the Turkish state cannot consider them a threat,” added the PKK, which announced its dissolution and the end of the armed struggle in May 2025.

“ In this way, [the PKK] meets all the requirements of the strategy to put an end to the armed struggle against Turkey and to continue the fight by democratic and political means,” the party said.

In early August, the Turkish Parliament passed a historic law that paved the way for the reintegration of PKK fighters, a key stage in the peace process aimed at ending more than four decades of armed conflict that, according to Ankara, left about 50,000 dead.

However, the PKK accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government of not advancing quickly or decisively enough in the peace process initiated in 2024

Since the adoption of the law in August, “the government of AKP (the party in power) has not approved any further measures,” the Kurdish movement protested.

As part of this peace process, Ankara recently created four subcommittees to oversee the dissolution of the PKK, announced in response to an appeal from its historical leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

One of these steps will be dedicated to the disarmament of the organization and will count on the participation of Ocalan, although he cannot leave the prison where he has served a life sentence since 1999