The statement delivered in northern Iraq by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, follows a symbolic disarmament ceremony held months earlier, where a group of its fighters began laying down their weapons to show its commitment to the peace process. The group has been waging a decades-long insurgency in Turkey that has led to tens of thousands of deaths since the 1980s. In a news conference, Sabri Ok, a member of the Kurdish umbrella organisation, the Kurdistan Communities Union, said all PKK forces in Turkey were being withdrawn to areas in northern Iraq “to avoid clashes or provocations”.

In a statement read in Turkish, Ok said the move was made with the approval of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. Vejin Dersim, a member of the PKK’s women’s wing, read the statement in Kurdish. “Also, similar regulatory measures are being taken with regard to those positions along the border which could carry the risk of clashes and possible provocations,” Ok said. The statement also called for legal and political concessions on the part of the Turkish state. “It is quite clear that we are committed to the resolutions of the 12th congress and decisive in implementing them,” the statement said. “However, for these resolutions to be implemented, certain legal and political approaches ... need to be adopted.” A group of some 25 fighters who had recently arrived from Turkey were present at the news conference. The PKK announced in May that it would disband and renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of hostilities. The move came after Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm. (Jamaica Gleaner)