The “Peoples’ Party” announces that the Workers’ Party has completed the first stages of the peace process with Ankara | news

The pro-Kurdish Turkish Equality and Peoples’ Democracy Party announced that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s move to withdraw its fighters from Turkish territory was a “very important” step that completed the first phase of the peace process between the government and the party.

Yesterday, Sunday, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party announced the withdrawal of all its forces from Turkish territory to northern Iraq, in a move it described as aiming to avoid military clashes and create a suitable climate for the peace process.

The party stated that the withdrawal process will continue gradually, indicating that this is linked to Ankara’s commitment to the path of the peace process, and stressing that the step comes “based on the decisions issued by the 12th conference of the party and with the approval of leader Abdullah Ocalan.”

Co-chair of the Equality and Peoples’ Democracy Party, Tuncer Bakirhan, said, “This decision to withdraw is the most tangible expression of the PKK’s determination on the path to peace,” describing the step as “one of the biggest and most important steps.”

He continued, “The first phase of the peace process has been completed,” calling on the government to move forward with “the important and vital second phase… (representing) legal and political steps.”

It is assumed that a legal framework will be formulated for the process of integrating PKK elements into civil and political life.

He added, “Parliament must facilitate this process, and legal arrangements must be made for the transitional phase. These will not only be technical arrangements, but will be the pillars of peace.”

He stressed that “solving the Kurdish issue means the democratic transformation of Turkey so that we can all win.”

Observers believe that the withdrawal of the party’s fighters from Turkish territory may constitute the beginning of a new phase of calm, especially after a period of escalation and mutual military operations in southeastern Türkiye.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party has fought an armed rebellion against the Turkish state since 1984, killing more than 40,000 people, most of them Kurds.

Despite previous attempts to launch a peace process – most notably between 2013 and 2015 – the negotiations collapsed after the resumption of fighting.

Indirect negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party began late last year with the support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while the Equality and Peoples’ Democracy Party, the third largest party in Turkey, played a major role in facilitating the agreement and reported that it would meet with Erdogan on Thursday.