The process of disarming the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) could take several months, writes the Turkish daily "Sabah", presenting a roadmap of the upcoming steps after the group announced yesterday its decision to disband and end the armed struggle, writes BTA.
According to the publication, the stage of handing over the weapons should be completed within 3-4 months. Three or four points have been identified in Northern Iraq, where the PKK is based, to which the terrorist organization will hand over its weapons, the necessary preparations have been made and measures have been taken, the newspaper states. According to the publication, the process will be carried out with the assistance of the Northern Iraq administration and the Turkish intelligence organization MIT.
The PKK will also notify state authorities about the locations of warehouses or caves containing weapons, ammunition and other materials.
According to estimates, the PKK currently has about 3,500 members. Approximately 100 of them are considered senior leaders. A different process will be applied to the two separate groups.
It is expected that about two thousand members of the organization, most of whom do not have criminal records, will return to Turkey. No special measures will be applied to them and after normal legal procedures they will be integrated into society with a two-year period of observation and control, the plan stipulates.
The senior leaders will be sent to South Africa or some Western countries. Some of them will be allowed to remain in northern Iraq, but none of the senior leaders will be allowed to remain in Syria.
Elements of the People's Protection Forces (PYD) - a Syrian Kurdish militia that Ankara says is an offshoot of the PKK in Syria - will be integrated into the Syrian national army. The process regarding them will be carried out in cooperation with the Syrian leadership.
There will be no sudden change in Turkey's security policies, and counter-terrorism operations will continue until it is clear that the organization has indeed laid down its arms and no longer poses a security threat, the pro-government newspaper wrote.
The PKK will be monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the ground to see if it is actually implementing the decision to disband and hand over its weapons, the roadmap also stipulates.