The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has made a number of moves this year to try to achieve some kind of peace deal with Turkey. It has said it will end a multi-decade insurgency and disarm.
In May, the PKK said it would disband and end its armed struggle. However, much remains unclear.
In late October, the PKK said it would withdraw its forces from Turkey. It was unclear if all the fighters would go to northern Iraq, but it was expected they would.
The PKK has long had bases in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish Region. This region is under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Kurds live in Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. They inhabit the mountain and border regions of these four countries. They refer to those areas as Bakur (north), Rojhilat (east), Basur (south), and Rojava (west) Kurdistan.
Once the PKK said it would leave Turkey, there were questions about what happens to its bases in Iraq. Turkey has been fighting the PKK in northern Iraq for decades, destabilizing the area and leading to many Kurds being displaced.
The PKK’s bases are often said to be in the Qandil mountain area, but it has many other positions in the area.
“To avoid tension with Turkiye, the Kurdistan Workers Party is redeploying in northern Iraq,” media outlets reported Monday.
As usual with the PKK, it is not always clear
According to the reports, the PKK will withdraw from a strategic area called the Cab region, which borders Turkey.
“By the evening of November 16, our forces had withdrawn from the Zap region... to other suitable areas, and the risk of conflict in this region has now been completely eliminated,” the PKK said in a statement published by the Kurdish-affiliated Firat News Agency. It is “an important practical contribution to the development and success of the peace process” with the Turkish authorities and demonstrates “our commitment to this process.”
The PKK statement has been widely quoted by Arabic media outlets, including UAE-based news site Al-Ain News, Saudi-based news channel Al Arabiya, Saudi Arabia-based newspaper Arab News, and UAE-based newspaper The National.
However, the statement is short on details. As usual with the PKK, it is not always clear how the statements reflect what will happen next. Over the past six months, this has been the case.
If the PKK is laying down its arms and changing or disbanding, then the continued withdrawals and redeployments lead to questions about what comes next. Are these symbolic moves, or will it actually change completely?
Forty years of fighting in the mountains likely makes it difficult for some cadres to integrate back into other types of work. In addition, many PKK fighters join at a very young age, meaning they have a deep commitment to it, and it will be difficult for them to find other life paths outside of loyalty to the party.
The PKK not only operates in Iraq and Turkey; it has also had affiliates with a role in Iran and Syria. What will become of those affiliates is unclear.
Turkey views the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces as essentially a part of the PKK. Ankara says the SDF is basically just a version of the YPG and the PYD, two groups linked to the PKK. As such, Ankara will also want to see changes in Syria.
In Iran, the PJAK has long been linked to the PKK. It is also not clear what will become of that group.