PKK lay down arms in northern Iraq in symbolic disarmament
The militants emerged from a cave where they had been based and proceeded to a designated disarmament site, where they tossed their weapons into a large burning cauldron.
A senior PKK figure read a statement in both Turkish and Kurdish during the event.
The disarmament was witnessed by officials from Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization, representatives from the Iraqi government and the Kurdish Regional Government, security forces, members of Türkiye's Peoples' Democratic Party, civil society organizations, and media personnel.
The move comes after a May announcement that the PKK would dissolve and end its armed activities. That declaration followed a February statement from jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who called for the group and its affiliates to disband and halt their armed struggle, which began in the late 1970s.
The PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for over 40 years, leading to the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including civilians.
The group has long used the mountainous regions of northern Iraq, near the Turkish border, as a safe haven to regroup and launch attacks into Türkiye. — Agencies
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Leaders
8 hours ago
- Leaders
Kurdish Administration Reiterates Call for Decentralized Syria after Damascus Meeting
After the Syrian government utterly rejected decentralization system, the Kurdish parties had reiterated their demand of an approach that provides them with a measure of their de facto autonomy, according to Arab News. Syria's Rejection of Decentralization In March, Syria's President Ahmad Al-Sharaa and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Chief Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement to integrate the civil and military institutions of Kurds into the Syrian government. However, the implementation of this deal was held up by differences between both parties. On Wednesday, the pair held a meeting with a US envoy to discuss the stalled efforts. During the meeting, the new government stressed its rejection to 'any form of division or federalization.' It also urged SDF fighters to integrate into the army. President Al-Sharaa and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack Kurdish Call for Decentralized Syria Meanwhile, the Kurdish administration called 'for a pluralistic democratic system, social justice, gender equality, and a constitution that guarantees the rights of all components' of society. 'Syrians have suffered for decades from a centralized system that monopolized power and wealth, suppressed local will, and dragged the country into successive crises,' the statement said on Sunday. The Kurds expressed their aspiration of being 'effective partners in building a new Syria, a decentralized Syria that embraces all its people and guarantees their rights equally.' Significant Kurdish Conference In May, Kurdish parties hosted a significant conference to introduce a unified vision for the country's future after the ousting of Bashar Assad, according to AFP. As a major component of Syria, Kurds 'must present a solution and a project proposal for the future of Syria,' Eldar Khalil, an official in the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, said. Moreover, Abdi called for 'a new decentralized constitution that includes all components' of society. 'We support all Syrian components receiving their rights in the constitution to be able to build a decentralized democratic Syria that embraces everyone,' he added. Turkish Opposition to Decentralization Turkey has also rejected any plans that may undermine Syria's central government or threaten its sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to Reuters. 'Turkey does not accept any initiative that targets Syria's territorial integrity, that will damage its sovereignty, or that allows weapons to be carried by others not in the Syrian central authority,' a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said. Moreover, President Tayyip Erdogan said in May that decentralization demands in Syria were 'nothing more than a raw dream.' Related Topics: Syrian Government, Kurds Exchange Prisoners in Aleppo Kurds Host Conference to Address Role in New Syria Erdogan Holds Talks with Syria's Sharaa in Istanbul Short link : Post Views: 33
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Turkiye's Kurdish region finds it difficult to accept peace is at hand
HAKKARI, Turkiye: Southeast Turkiye, where the army has battled Kurdish militants for decades, is not yet convinced that lasting peace is at hand. In a slickly managed ceremony recently held across the border in Iraq, members of the Kurdish rebel group PKK destroyed their weapons as part of a peace process underway with the Turkish state. But on the streets and in the tea houses of Hakkari, a Kurdish-majority town some 50 kilometers from the Iraqi border, few people express much hope that the deadly conflict is over. One tea drinker who was willing to speak asked not to be filmed. 'We don't talk about it,' he said. We know what we are doing. No one should worry, be afraid, or question anything. Everything we are doing is for Turkiye, for our future and our independence. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkiye's president The conflict has caused 50,000 deaths among civilians and 2,000 among soldiers, according to Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mehmet Duman, a local, said: 'The state must take a step' to match the symbolic operation to destroy PKK weapons in Iraq. 'Turkiye has won,' Erdogan said Saturday, a day after the PKK's symbolic destruction of weapons signaling the start of the disarmament process. 'Eighty-six million citizens have won,' he added. While he has opened a peace process with the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, he has also continued his crackdown on opposition parties. The government has arrested hundreds of members of the CHP, a social-democratic, secular party. The main opposition force to Erdogan, it is rising in the polls. Those arrested include the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, the party's likely candidate in the next presidential elections, and the mayors of other major cities who took power when CHP made major gains in March 2024 local elections. Accused of 'corruption,' they deny the charges against them. The crackdown has also hit opposition media outlets, such as the Sozcu channel. On Saturday morning, before the plenary session of his AKP party, Erdogan sought to be reassuring. 'We know what we are doing. No one should worry, be afraid, or question anything. Everything we are doing is for Turkiye, for our future and our independence,' he insisted. The PKK announced in May that it would disband and renounce armed conflict. The move came after PKK leader Abdullah 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. Ocalan renewed his call in a video message broadcast on Wednesday, saying, 'I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons.' The PKK issued a statement from the fighters who were laying down their weapons, saying that they had disarmed 'as a gesture of goodwill and a commitment to the practical success' of the peace process. 'We will henceforth continue our struggle for freedom, democracy, and socialism through democratic politics and legal means,' the statement said. Turkish parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmus said that the initial disarmament step had proceeded 'as planned,' but cautioned that the process was far from complete. 'There's still a long way to go in collecting many more weapons,' Kurtulmus said. 'What matters is ending the armed era in a way that ensures weapons are never taken up again.' The official noted that the Turkish parliament was close to setting up a commission to oversee the peace process. Devlet Bahceli, Erdogan's nationalist ally who initiated the peace process, welcomed the ceremony, saying it marks 'historic developments that signal the end of a dark era.'
Saudi Gazette
2 days ago
- Saudi Gazette
PKK lay down arms in northern Iraq in symbolic disarmament
BAGHDAD — A group of 30 PKK terrorists, including 15 women, laid down their weapons and destroyed them in a symbolic disarmament ceremony on Friday in the Surdas sub-district of Iraq's Sulaymaniyah province, marking a potential turning point in the group's decades-long armed campaign. The militants emerged from a cave where they had been based and proceeded to a designated disarmament site, where they tossed their weapons into a large burning cauldron. A senior PKK figure read a statement in both Turkish and Kurdish during the event. The disarmament was witnessed by officials from Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization, representatives from the Iraqi government and the Kurdish Regional Government, security forces, members of Türkiye's Peoples' Democratic Party, civil society organizations, and media personnel. The move comes after a May announcement that the PKK would dissolve and end its armed activities. That declaration followed a February statement from jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who called for the group and its affiliates to disband and halt their armed struggle, which began in the late 1970s. The PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for over 40 years, leading to the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including civilians. The group has long used the mountainous regions of northern Iraq, near the Turkish border, as a safe haven to regroup and launch attacks into Türkiye. — Agencies
