Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani after the start of the disarmament of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), banned in the republic, and discussed the process with him, the Turkish leader’s office reported.
The disarmament process of PKK militants took place on Friday morning in the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, in the northern part of the country. Turkish authorities hope to end long-standing conflict with Kurdish militants and implement the ‘Turkey Without Terror’ initiative. About 30 militants laid down their arms on Friday, a Turkish source told RIA Novosti. News.
„During the conversation, bilateral relations between Turkey and Iraq, regional and global issues were discussed. President Erdogan stated that the “Turkey without terror“ process is being carried out delicately, that Turkey seeks to get rid of terrorism in the region forever, that the steps will continue resolutely and that it will fight vigilantly against those who try to undermine this process“, the Turkish leader's office reported.
The disarmament of the PKK is part of the “Turkey without terror“ initiative of the Turkish president's ally, the leader of the Turkish nationalist movement Devlet Bahçeli, when a dialogue began between the Turkish authorities and the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is serving a life sentence on the island of Imrali. Öcalan held a series of meetings with a delegation of the Turkish parliamentary pro-Kurdish DEM party, recorded video messages to his fighters, calling for self-disbandment and laying down of arms to start a new “democratic process“. The Turkish government expects the initiative to officially end the long-standing conflict. The Turkish parliament, for its part, expects to form a committee to formalize the PKK's disarmament process.
The process will be completed in 3-4 months and will be monitored by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Turkish Armed Forces. Each stage of the disarmament will be monitored and recorded, the pro-government newspaper Türkiye reported. According to the publication, members of the organization will hand over their weapons in groups or individually to specially designated centers and register. The weapons will be destroyed and cannot be sent to third countries.
In May, the PKK announced its dissolution and its decision to end the armed conflict with Turkey, which has lasted for more than 40 years, after appeal from its leader Öcalan. The PKK has also called on Turkish authorities to allow Öcalan, who is in prison, to personally preside over the trial. The Turkish newspaper „Sabah“ reported earlier that Turkey would allow some 2,000 PKK fighters to return to the country, with senior leadership being allowed to travel to South Africa and a number of Western countries.
The PKK announced the ceasefire on March 1 in response to an appeal from Öcalan, who has been serving a life sentence in prison on the island of Imrali in the Sea of Marmara since 1999. The Turkish president has threatened to resume operations against the PKK if the party resorts to trickery or delays the trial.
This is not the first such call from Öcalan to the PKK from prison. The armed conflict with the party began in Turkey in 1984 and resumed in 2015 d.