Authorities are meticulously monitoring the process of the PKK terrorist group’s dissolution and will continue to clear the region of the PKK threat, Defense Ministry sources said on Thursday.
The group declared dissolution last Monday as part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative launched last year by Devlet Bahçeli, head of government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). It is now required to lay down arms.
Sources said the Turkish state would coordinate establishing a mechanism for the handover of the PKK’s weapons with regional countries. The PKK has a presence in Iraq and Syria, where it has a U.S.-backed offshoot, the YPG.
Designated as a terrorist organization by Türkiye and its Western allies, the PKK operates rear bases in northern Iraq, in a region controlled by Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), where Türkiye also maintains military bases and often carries out air and ground operations against the terrorists. The PKK is also present in Syria, where Türkiye has military bases in the north and has since 2016 carried out several ground operations to force the YPG away from its border.
“It is not possible for the Turkish armed forces to perform this task since it is in other countries,” the sources said.
“We will provide support if needed; we have bases there. Our presence (in Iraq and Syria) will continue until we are sure of security.”
The source also said there would be no involvement of third parties in the disarmament process. “There will definitely be no U.N. or third parties. The problems in our region should be solved by the regional countries,” sources said.
The weapons handover will be overseen by Turkish intelligence officials at locations in Türkiye, Syria and Iraq, who are expected to register the arms and the identity of the fighters in coordination with the Syrian and Iraqi authorities, Turkish media reports said.
“Our intelligence service will follow the process meticulously to ensure the promises are kept,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday.
Sources also stated that they were vigilant over provocations that may harm the initiative, “possibly by certain members of the PKK who do not approve of the dissolution and by countries pulling the strings in the group. The Turkish Armed Forces will resolutely continue its efforts to clear areas where the terrorist group may have shelters, land mines and storage for explosives, to ensure that the PKK would not pose a threat to Türkiye any longer.”
Separately, Brig. Adm. Zeki Aktürk, spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, told reporters in a weekly news briefing that the Turkish Armed Forces would continue its fight against terrorism “as long as they exist.”
Aktürk said on Thursday that the army had already engaged in operations against the PKK, citing the Claw-Lock operation in Iraq, which last week led to the discovery of more hideouts of the group. He said a large cache of munitions and supplies belonging to terrorists was found in the abandoned hideouts and destroyed. He also mentioned a terrorist surrendering at the Turkish-Iraqi border after fleeing the PKK.
On Thursday, Masoud Barzani, a veteran Iraqi Kurdish politician who chairs the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq, expressed full support for the initiative. Barzani, whose next of kin governs the KRG, said that he hoped the entire region would overcome the challenges it faces.
Speaking at an event in Irbil, Barzani said that choosing the path of war over the path to peace was “a betrayal” and that they now had a path to peace before them.
“We support this process. We are ready to do our part,” Barzani said.