Fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have abandoned four bases in northern Iraq as an opening measure toward the group's eventual disbandment, Turkish security sources said on Monday.
According to the sources, the militants began departing the Hebat, Yajk, Sabri and Sason camps in the Baze district of Iraq’s Metina region on Thursday. The move was described as evidence that a broader reconciliation effort between Ankara and the militant group is progressing.
In August, the Turkish parliament approved legislation establishing the framework for the PKK's dissolution. The law offers legal safeguards to former combatants who have not carried out specific violent offences and allows for suspended sentences for individuals convicted of membership, opening a path for their return to civilian life.
The security sources said former militants will be permitted to enter economic, educational and social integration programmes under the legal framework once the group halts all operational activities.
Neither the PKK nor the Iraqi government issued an immediate response regarding the reported camp evacuations.
The peace initiative between Turkiye, which maintains NATO's second-largest military, and the PKK commenced in late 2024. The talks had virtually stalled earlier this year amid the outbreak of the war involving Iran and broader regional unrest.
The PKK initiated its armed insurgency against Turkiye in 1984, an uprising that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and severely impacted the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeast. The group initially sought full statehood before shifting its demands toward regional autonomy and expanded Kurdish political rights. It is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.
In a related shift, Turkiye agreed last month to transfer control of one of its military camps in northern Iraq to the central government in Baghdad as security arrangements adjust alongside the peace talks.
