The process of disarming the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), banned in Turkey, as well as all its structures, must continue without interruption. This was stated to journalists in Ankara by the official representative of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Omer Celik.
„This process must continue without interruption and includes the transfer of weapons from all its units and branches. It is necessary to completely eliminate terrorism with all its illegal formations, ideological and financial structures. Our President stated yesterday that A Turkey without terrorism will become an example for the entire region, he said.
Çelik stated that Ankara “expresses gratitude to both the central government of Iraq and the administration of Northern Iraq“ for supporting the PKK disarmament process. “We will continue this process without interruption.There will be meetings on all organizational aspects, strategies, reforms, communication and coordination,“ he said.
Çelik noted that at present there is no exact date for the formation of a parliamentary committee that will develop a legal framework for the disarmament and dissolution of the PKK. “I think the committee can be formed within a few days. The main thing here is for the committee to provide a legislative basis for the dissolution of the PKK, the handover of weapons and their destruction. The parliament will guide and control these processes. These processes will be directly controlled within the framework of the mechanisms developed by the armed forces and the National Intelligence Service“, the AKP representative said.
On June 11, the first group of PKK fighters handed over their weapons as part of the organization's disarmament process. The ceremony for handing over and burning weapons took place 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, called in February this year 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 its nearly 50-year confrontation with the republic's authorities.