Kurdish Pkk Militants Begin Handing Over Weapons In Cave In Iraq

Dozens of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants began handing complete weapons successful a ceremonial successful a cave successful bluish Iraq connected Friday, officials said, marking a symbolic but important measurement toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.

Helicopters hovered supra nan upland wherever nan disarmament process sewage underway, pinch dozens of Iraqi Kurdish information forces surrounding nan area, a Reuters witnesser said.

The PKK, locked successful conflict pinch nan Turkish authorities and outlawed since 1984, decided successful May to disband, disarm and extremity its separatist struggle aft a nationalist telephone to do truthful from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.

After a bid of grounded bid efforts, nan caller inaugural could pave nan measurement for Ankara to extremity an insurgency that has killed complete 40,000 people, burdened nan system and wrought heavy societal and governmental divisions successful Turkey and nan wider region.

The ceremonial was held wrong nan Jasana cave successful nan municipality of Dukan, 37 miles northwest of Sulaymaniyah successful nan Kurdistan region of Iraq‘s north, according to an Iraqi information charismatic and different location authorities official.

Around 40 PKK militants and 1 commandant were to manus complete their weapons, group acquainted pinch nan scheme said. It was unclear erstwhile further handovers would return place.

The PKK has been based successful bluish Iraq aft being pushed good beyond Turkey’s southeastern frontier successful caller years. Turkey’s subject has regularly carried retired operations and strikes connected PKK bases successful nan region and established respective subject outposts there.

No footage of nan ceremonial has been made disposable yet, but Turkish broadcasters person been showing nan crowds gathered adjacent Sulaymaniyah and landscapes of nan mountainous region arsenic portion of their sum of what they said was a historical moment.

The arms are to beryllium destroyed later successful different ceremonial attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq‘s Kurdistan location government, and elder members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM statement — which besides played a cardinal domiciled successful facilitating nan PKK’s disarmament decision.

The PKK, DEM and Ocalan person each called connected Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s authorities to reside Kurdish demands for much authorities successful regions wherever Kurds shape a majority, peculiarly nan southeast wherever nan insurgency was concentrated.

In a uncommon online video published connected Wednesday, Ocalan besides urged Turkey’s parliament to group up a committee to oversee disarmament and negociate nan broader bid process.

Ankara has taken steps toward forming nan commission, while nan DEM and Ocalan person said that ineligible assurances and definite mechanisms were needed to soft nan PKK’s modulation into antiauthoritarian politics.

Omer Celik, a spokesperson for Erdogan’s AK Party, said nan disarmament process should not beryllium allowed to resistance connected longer than a fewer months to debar it becoming taxable to provocations.

Erdogan has said nan disarmament will alteration nan rebuilding of Turkey’s southeast.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said Turkey spent astir $1.8 trillion complete nan past 5 decades combating terrorism, endorsing nan bid steps arsenic an economical boon.

The extremity of NATO personnel Turkey’s conflict pinch nan PKK could person consequences crossed nan region, including successful neighboring Syria wherever nan United States is allied pinch Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara deems a PKK offshoot.

Washington and Ankara want those Kurds to quickly merge pinch Syria’s information structure, which has been undergoing reconfiguration since nan autumn successful December of autocratic President Bashar al-Assad. PKK disarmament could adhd to this pressure, analysts say.