PKK prepares to surrender weapons within days

TURKEY — Following Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê, PKK) to disarm and dissolve itself, and amid negotiations about real and inclusive democracy in Turkey, Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) spokesperson Ömer Çelik confirmed that the PKK may begin handing over its weapons within days. Çelik noted there is no set timetable for this phase but indicated it could happen soon.

This move is seen as one of the clearest signs that the PKK is serious about peace and democracy for all in Turkey.

Two sources from the PKK in the Kurdistan Region said a small group of fighters is expected to surrender their weapons at a site in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah in the coming days.

One source explained that preparations for the weapon handover are being coordinated with the city’s security authorities, adding that the process will be supervised by security agencies from the federal government in Baghdad.