ANKARA (Xinhua) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the self-dissolution announcement made by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) a key milestone in Turkey’s decades-long conflict against terror.
“We have crossed another critical threshold in the process of making Turkey a terror-free country,” Erdogan said at a press conference after a cabinet meeting.
Erdogan emphasized that Turkish intelligence and other state institutions would “closely monitor the disbandment process of the group to prevent any security lapses.”
The PKK’s decision is also “an important step for ensuring the security of our nation,” he said, noting that the PKK’s step is expected to “cover all the extensions of the group, particularly in northern Iraq, Syria, and Europe.”
Meanwhile, in a statement on Monday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry welcomed the PKK’s decision, hailing it as an important step toward enhancing security and stability in Iraq and the region, and a real opportunity to advance peace efforts and end the decades-long regional conflicts.
Iraq reaffirmed its support for all peace efforts, underscoring the importance of addressing security challenges through dialogue to achieve common aspirations held dear by the regional peoples for security and development, said the statement.
The PKK announced its decision to disband and end its armed insurgency on Monday. The decision followed a call made in late February by the group’s jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, urging the PKK to lay down arms.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for four decades with an original aim of creating an independent Kurdish state.
Turkey regularly conducts cross-border military operations against the PKK in northern Iraq, where the group has its headquarters and hideouts, as well as raids on its affiliates in Syria.