Turkish intelligence has confirmed that Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants withdrew from four bases in northern Iraq following the Kurdish group’s announcement last week.
The withdrawal comes two months after Turkey passed a law offering limited amnesty to PKK militants as part of a peace process aimed at ending decades of deadly violence.
“Four PKK hideouts in the Metina and Baze regions of northern Iraq were evacuated as of October 8,” security sources said in a statement carried by the state-run Anadolu news agency and widely understood to have come from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT).
The PKK said Thursday that it had withdrawn all its armed forces “both within and outside of Turkey, that could be considered near the border,” saying the move took place “a few days ago.”
That included a withdrawal “from four war tunnels and positions in Metina, west of Zap,” a strategic border area frequently targeted by the Turkish military.
Meanwhile, senior PKK leader Murat Karayılan said in an interview published on Sunday that the group had also ordered units operating covertly in İstanbul and other Turkish cities to withdraw.
He told The Amargi, a Germany-based nonprofit news outlet focusing on Kurdish affairs and the Middle East, that Ankara had specifically demanded their departure.
Inside a cave in the Kurdish mountains, @KamalChomani meets Murad Karayilan for his first interview with external media in 12 years.
Stay tuned tonight at 10:00 pm CET on our YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/G0ulANFAty
— The Amargi (@the_amargi) October 11, 2026
Karayılan said the withdrawal from Metina followed dialogue and internal discussions, rejecting the suggestion that Turkish forces had driven the group out.
He said the PKK had withdrawn its fighters in dozens of vehicles and could release footage of the operation if its account was disputed.
Ankara has repeatedly said Turkish intelligence must verify that the PKK has ended its military activities and handed over its weapons and ammunition before measures under the law passed in August can take effect.
Karayılan also confirmed that PKK delegations were meeting with Turkish state officials but declined to confirm reports that senior members had met with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan directly at his prison on İmralı Island.
He said the current process had no outside mediator, such as the United States, European Union or United Nations, adding that peace required both sides to end their hostilities and that the process should go beyond ending the armed campaign and surrendering weapons.
He also called on Turkey to stop treating Kurds outside its borders as enemies.
The PKK announced in May 2025 that it was disbanding following a call by its jailed leader, Öcalan. Two months later, militants began symbolically destroying their weapons at a ceremony in the mountains of northern Iraq.
The Turkish statement said the evacuation would allow the process set out in the law to move forward, ultimately enabling former militants to return home.
“Following the cessation of PKK activities in all areas, social reconciliation will be achieved with organization members who will return to Turkey in the later stages of the process, benefiting from the law,” it said.
“The goal is to ensure the integration of PKK/KCK members into society through integrated programs in many areas such as education and the economy.”
Agence France-Presse, with reporting from Turkish Minute
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