The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced Sunday that it has withdrawn all of its forces from Turkey to northern Iraq, marking a major step in the ongoing peace process with Ankara and the formal end of its four-decade armed campaign.
In a statement released through the Firat news agency, the PKK confirmed that its remaining fighters had been relocated to the Medya Defense Areas in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, a mountainous stronghold that includes Mount Qandil, the group’s longtime headquarters. The move, approved by the group’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, was described as part of the “second phase” of the Peace and Democratic Society Process.
“To prevent clashes or provocations, all of our forces have been withdrawn from within Turkey,” said Sabri Ok, a senior member of the PKK’s executive board. The announcement was made at a press conference attended by 25 senior commanders in Qandil, where the group described the decision as a “historic step” that reflects “a new spirit and will toward peace and democratization.”
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The PKK said the withdrawal aims to create conditions for a “free, democratic, and fraternal life” between Turks and Kurds, and to eliminate the threats it believes endanger both peoples. The group also called on the Turkish government to respond with “reciprocal and practical measures” to advance the peace process.
The announcement follows a series of symbolic disarmament gestures, including a ceremony in July in which dozens of PKK members burned their weapons in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province. The disarmament effort began after a PKK congress in May voted to dissolve the organization’s military structures and transition toward political engagement, fulfilling Ocalan’s call from prison to end the armed struggle.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially sought Kurdish independence before shifting its focus to cultural and political autonomy within Turkey. The insurgency has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s. A parliamentary commission with representatives from all major Turkish parties has since been formed to oversee the political and legal aspects of the peace process, while the pro-Kurdish DEM Party continues to mediate between the PKK and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government.