Eleven camps of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), banned in Turkey, will be completely liquidated in Northern Iraq, and the thousands of fighters in them will be relocated to other locations. According to the Sabah newspaper, the measure is planned as part of Ankara's process of ridding Turkey of terrorism.
The PKK was founded 47 years ago in Diyarbakir, Turkey, and has since established 11 large camps in Northern Iraq. These are the organization's main bases in the country, in addition to numerous small strongholds. One of the closest to the border with Turkey is the large Zap camp, which is visible even from Turkish territory in the Hakkari province. This is one of the most important points for the PKK, entry to which is prohibited for persons not affiliated with the organization, and from there, according to the newspaper, there have been repeated attempts to infiltrate Turkey.
Also at a depth of 20-40 km from the border are the camps of Sinat, Haftanin, Gara, Hakurk, Metina, Avashin-Basyan. Among the PKK infrastructure in Iraq are hospitals, small dams for electricity generation, training grounds and educational facilities, numerous caves, shelters and weapons depots. As Sabah notes, all these facilities should be completely freed from the PKK presence after the completion of the disarmament and dissolution of the organization.
The three largest camps - Qandil and Mahmour in Iraq and Sinjar in Syria - should be completely closed over time and handed over to local authorities. They are home to the largest number of fighters, including all the organization's commanders. There are about 15,000 people in Mahmour alone. It is assumed that all these people will be evacuated from there and resettled in different settlements. Some of the PKK members or their families will be able to settle in Turkey. But for this, it is necessary to prepare a legislative framework that will be considered by the republic's parliament.
On Friday, the first group of PKK fighters handed over their weapons as part of the organization's disarmament process. The ceremony to hand over and burn weapons was held in the Iraqi province of Sulaymaniyah, which is part of Iraqi Kurdistan. It was attended by 30 PKK members, about half of whom were women.
PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is serving a life sentence in Turkey for terrorist activities, in February this year called on all groups affiliated with the organization to lay down their arms and end the armed conflict with Ankara. In May, the PKK held a congress at which it decided to disband and end the nearly 50-year confrontation with the republic's authorities.