PKK disarmament in Iraq to take months: Turkey's AK party
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The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is expected to start surrendering weapons in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq, on Friday as part of what is described as a peace process.
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In this file photo dated Wednesday, March 21, 2018, a youth holds a flag with the image of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in Istanbul, Turkey (AP)
The handover of weapons by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq, which recently decided to disband, is expected to be completed within a few months, according to a spokesperson for Turkey's ruling AK Party, who made the statement late on Wednesday.
Ömer Çelik, speaking to broadcaster NTV, stated that a verification mechanism involving Turkish intelligence and military officials will monitor the disarmament process.
"The disarmament ... process (in Iraq) needs to be completed within three to five months... If it exceeds this period, it will become vulnerable to provocations," Celik told NTV.
The PKK, engaged in a decades-long armed conflict with Turkey, announced in May it would disband and cease militant activities, with its fighters scheduled to start surrendering weapons in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq, on Friday as part of the peace process.
PKK officially disbands
Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan announced the formal cessation of the banned group's armed campaign against Turkey on July 9, in a video message that constituted his first appearance since he was imprisoned in 1999.
In a June-recorded message published Wednesday by Firat News Agency, Öcalan urged Turkey's parliament to establish a monitoring committee for voluntary disarmament and initiate comprehensive peace efforts.
Öcalan declared that the PKK has abandoned its separatist objectives and national liberation doctrine, asserting that with Kurdish identity now recognized in Turkey, the group's founding purpose has been achieved, making its armed struggle unnecessary.
The jailed leader of the PKK demanded that weapons be publicly handed over to official authorities to ensure transparency and demonstrate commitment to peace, while stressing the need for a legally recognized disarmament process supervised by parliament.
Turkey and the PKK came to an agreement aimed at ending the decades-long armed conflict and transitioning the group entirely into legal political activity, after reaching a ceasefire in March.
