Ankara – Turkey is actively pursuing an ambitious roadmap aimed at disarming the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and definitively ending its nearly four-decade-long armed conflict. While the Turkish government acknowledges and monitors the ongoing steps on the ground, Kurdish circles have reacted with a mixture of cautious welcome and reservation.
Kurdish groups view the roadmap as the result of an internal evolution led by the “Imrali reference,” while simultaneously emphasizing that the operation’s success hinges on Turkish political and legal guarantees. The “Imrali reference” refers to Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned Kurdish leader and founder of the PKK, who is incarcerated on the island of Imrali and has called on the party to lay down its arms.
Turkish media outlets close to the government report, citing Turkish security sources, that the roadmap for dismantling the PKK’s military force consists of four sequential phases, the majority of which have already been completed. The first phase involved the complete withdrawal of PKK fighters from within Turkey to northern Iraq. This was officially announced on October 26th, marking the first comprehensive withdrawal of its kind since the beginning of the armed insurgency in the 1980s. It was considered a significant milestone in the conflict, as it removed the last PKK concentrations within Turkish borders.
The second phase focused on dismantling the remaining PKK pockets in northern Iraq, particularly in the “Zap” and “Metina” regions, which fall within the scope of the Turkish military operations known as “Claw Lock.” Reports indicate that PKK fighters have withdrawn from four major caves in “Zap,” leaving behind quantities of weapons and ammunition. These were subsequently removed and destroyed by Turkish special units. The withdrawal from the remaining caves in “Metina” is currently being completed, paving the way for a complete clearance of the Turkish army’s operational area from PKK presence.
An official announcement regarding the completion of this phase is anticipated in the near future. However, challenges remain in ensuring the long-term success of the disarmament process, including addressing the underlying political and social grievances that fueled the conflict in the first place.
