Turkey

PKK Announces Withdrawal From Turkey to Iraq

Published OCT 27 2025

Story

Above: The first group of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) lays down and destroys their weapons in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq on July 11, 2025. Image credit: Stringer/Getty Images

The Facts

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced on Sunday it was withdrawing all its forces from Turkey to northern Iraq, with 25 fighters, including eight women, participating in a ceremony in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq, according to multiple sources.
Daily Sabah
Reuters
Al Jazeera
In a statement issued from northern Iraq, the PKK said it was withdrawing all its forces to lay the foundations for a "free, democratic and brotherly life" and called on Ankara to pave the way for the PKK’s transition to "democratic politics" through integration laws.
The Jerusalem Post
Dw.Com
The PKK formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkey in May following a call from its 76-year-old imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan, ending some four decades of violence that claimed up to 50,000 lives according to various reports.
Dw.Com
The New Arab
Turkey's ruling AK Party said the PKK's move to withdraw and new disarmament steps were the latest advances in Ankara's security roadmap for a "terror-free" Turkey, including a broader regional stance against "imperialist hegemony" utilizing terrorist proxies to promote national unity.
Ömer Çelik on X
PBS News
Yeni Safak
Turkey established a 48-member cross-party parliamentary commission to prepare legal frameworks for PKK integration and decide Öcalan's fate, with the group's leader being held in solitary confinement on Imrali Island since 1999.
Daily Sabah
The Times of Israel
Hürriyet Daily News
In July, the PKK held a symbolic ceremony destroying weapons in northern Iraq, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hailed as an irreversible turning point in the peace process, opening the doors to a "great, powerful" Turkey.
Daily Sabah
Al Jazeera

Sources Split

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RIGHT

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The Spin

Narrative A

The PKK's historic withdrawal from Turkey represents a genuine breakthrough toward lasting peace after four decades of devastating conflict. The courageous move proves the Kurdish movement's sincere commitment to democratic transformation and proves that dialogue can triumph over violence. Turkey must now reciprocate by releasing Abdullah Öcalan and enacting comprehensive reforms to ensure this unprecedented opportunity for reconciliation succeeds.

ANF News

Al-Monitor

Narrative B

The PKK's so-called withdrawal is largely symbolic theater since few militants remained in Turkey anyway, making this a calculated political maneuver rather than meaningful disarmament. This process lacks international oversight and genuine legal guarantees, creating dangerous precedent for rewarding terrorism with political concessions, while the PKK positions itself to blame Turkey when this fragile arrangement inevitably collapses.

Daily Sabah

PA Turkey

Narrative C

The relocation of PKK fighters from Turkey into northern Iraq threatens to deepen the country’s vulnerability to regional tensions, undermining the country's sovereignty. For years, foreign operations and internal Kurdish divisions have eroded Iraq’s sovereignty. The new buildup risks turning its northern mountains into another arena for outside powers, undermining stability and drawing Iraq further into conflicts not of its own making.