Kurdish separatist fighters in Iraq begin laying down weapons as part of peace process with Turkey
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, announced in May it would disband and renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of hostilities. The move came after PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, 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.
Ocalan renewed his call in a video message broadcast Wednesday, saying, 'I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons.'
The ceremony took place in the mountains outside the city of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region. The state-run Iraqi News Agency reported that 'the process will take place in stages, with a group of party members initially laying down their weapons ;symbolically.'" The disarmament process is expected to be completed by September, the agency reported.
The PKK has long maintained bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. Turkish forces have launched offensives and airstrikes against the PKK in Iraq and have set up bases in the area. Scores of villages have emptied as a result.
The Iraqi government in Baghdad last year announced an official ban on the separatist group, which has long been prohibited in Turkey.
Journalists were not allowed at the site of Friday's ceremony.
An Iraqi Kurdish political official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said that about 30 fighters took part in the ceremony, which took place in the presence of a representative of the Turkish intelligence service and representatives of the Kurdish regional government, Iraq's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, and the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, a pro-Kurdish party in Turkey.
PKK officials previously said that in order to continue the disarmament process, they want to see Turkey take steps to end 'the regime of isolation' imposed on Öcalan in prison and to allow integration of former militants into the political system.
——
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Labour's plan to recognise Palestine even if Hamas does not release hostages SLAMMED by families of captives
HOSTAGE families blasted Labour's plan to recognise Palestine — after being told failure to release loved-ones will not stop the move. At a Foreign Office meeting, the relatives of four British-linked captives were told the UK would press ahead with state recognition even if Hamas terrorists refuse to free any of the 50 it still holds. A statement issued by their lawyers Adam Rose and Adam Wagner KC said the conditions for recognising a Palestinian state would be assessed in late-September. But it added: 'It was made obvious to us at the meeting that, in deciding whether to go ahead with recognition, the release or otherwise of the hostages would play no part in those considerations.' They warned the UK's new position would not help 'and could even hurt' hostages. They said PM Sir Keir Starmer's plan 'appears to be to put pressure on the Israelis only to reach a deal'. It abandons efforts to press both sides, they add. Sir Keir outlined the route to recognising a Palestinian state this week. He was met with outrage by hostage families and concern from Jewish community leaders. Emily Damari, 29, who was held in Gaza and released in January, called it a 'moral failure'. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump vowed to 'get people fed' in Gaza after sending envoy Steve Witkoff to tour a US-backed aid site in Rafah. Hamas agrees to release 10 hostages as terror group issues ceasefire red lines after Trump pressured Israel to end war 1
Sky News
3 hours ago
- Sky News
Gaza latest: Trump allies talk up success of aid group on visit to site in Gaza - despite food 'catastrophe' warning
Two Donald Trump allies have visited an aid site in Gaza today - where they talked up the success of a controversial US-Israel-backed group. Earlier, a UN-supported authority warned of a food "catastrophe". Follow the latest below, and listen to The World podcast as you scroll.
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
Hamas release images of starving Israeli soldiers held hostage
Hamas has released video of emaciated Israeli hostages being held in Gaza in an apparent attempt to weaponise starvation. Evyatar David, 24, from the city of Kfar Saba, is seen inside a tunnel, bare-chested, with only a dirty mattress and a small bottle of water. Mr David, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on Oct 7 2023, does not say anything in the video, which also shows images of emaciated Palestinian children. 'They eat what we eat, they drink what we drink,' a message from Hamas says, accusing Israel of starving everyone in Gaza, including the hostages. Mr David's sister, Ye'ela, said watching the clip of her emaciated brother felt like 'one million punches to the heart'. She pleaded with the public not to share the images, as her mother and other brother had not yet seen the footage. Earlier on Thursday, the Islamic Jihad terrorist group released a video of hostage Rom Braslavski, 21, also looking emaciated. The terror group claimed the six-minute video was recorded days before it lost contact with the captors holding Mr Braslavski, saying it did not know what had happened to him. His mother, Tami, said the terrorists had 'broken' her son. 'They broke my boy. I want him home now. I know how many beatings he is taking. Look at him. Thin, limp, crying. All his bones are out. Don't cry over the children in Gaza. Cry for Rom. Have compassion for the hostages,' she told Israeli media Ynet. With two hostage videos released in 24 hours, both of which blame Israel for starving the people of Gaza, Hamas seeks to increase international pressure on the Israeli government. Aid agencies including the UN are warning that hunger and malnutrition may have reached a tipping point, raising fears of mass starvation. Israel has denied accusations of starving Palestinians, instead pointing the finger at the UN for failing to collect and distribute the food that enters through border crossings. Donald Trump, the US president, said this week that starvation was happening in Gaza, despite Benjamin Netanyahu's denials. 'You can't fake that,' he said on Tuesday, adding that he was 'not particularly' convinced by his ally. Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump's Middle East envoy, spent five hours visiting controversial aid distribution sites in the war-battered enclave on Friday. Mr Witkoff, the first senior official to visit Gaza since the war began, said that what he learnt would help Washington 'craft a plan' to get more food and aid to Palestinians. On Friday, 126 aid packages, containing food for the residents of both the southern and northern Gaza Strip, were airdropped by France, Spain, the UAE, Jordan, Egypt and Germany, the Israel Defense Forces said. Mr Witkoff and Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador for Israel, toured one of the four sites run by the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Aid agencies have accused the foundation of contributing to the hunger crisis. More than 1,300 people seeking aid in Gaza have been killed since GHF took over aid operations in late May, according to the UN, most of them shot by Israeli forces 'in the vicinity' of the aid hubs. GHF have denied the claims. Israel claims Hamas is looting aid in an effort to steal for its own fighters, thus enabling accusations the Jewish state is deliberately starving Palestinians. Hamas denies this. Eli Sharabi, an Israeli former hostage, testified before the UN Security Council in March that 'Hamas eats like kings, while hostages starve.' Mr Sharabi said: 'I saw Hamas terrorists carrying boxes with the UN and UNRWA emblems on them into the tunnels, dozens and dozens of boxes, paid for by your government. They would eat many meals a day from the UN aid in front of us, and we never received any of it.'
