The PKK terrorist group left four camps in northern Iraq’s Metina, Turkish security sources announced Monday.
It is among the few solid indicators of progress in the terror-free Türkiye initiative sponsored by the government. It is a significant gain in the secretive and highly sensitive process, although the PKK touted it as a bargain with Türkiye. The government rejects any deal in what is portrayed as a unilateral initiative. Turkish sources confirmed the veracity of the PKK's "withdrawal," but experts argue that it is still the beginning of the end.
Sibel Düz, senior researcher at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), told Daily Sabah that the evacuation of camps in Hebat, Yajk, Sabri and Sason in Metina was a substantial development. “Nevertheless, this should not be construed as straightforward disarmament. Retreating from one position does not mean that the structural hierarchy of (the PKK) is completely dissolved,” said Düz.
Düz recalled that the PKK announced in November 2025 that it left most areas it occupied, particularly in the Zap region in northern Iraq, but it is the first time that Türkiye’s security bureaucracy demonstrated how it monitored the dissolution process, through videos released by state-run Anadolu Agency (AA).
Per the initiative, Turkish intelligence is tasked with monitoring the PKK’s disarmament in Iraq, whose north has been home to hideouts of the terrorist group for years. Düz says although the confirmation mechanism on the ground is functional, Türkiye needs to verify whether the PKK was involved in “tactical retreat.” Even at the peak of its campaign of violence in the 1990s, Türkiye has sought ways to peacefully end the PKK problem. Under the successive governments of the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ankara tried it again, most notably with the “reconciliation process” in the 2010s. Back then, the PKK appeared to comply with demands to cease its activities through a unilateral “cease-fire.” The process collapsed, however, when the PKK found new excuses not to lay down arms and mounted attacks against security forces and in southeastern Turkish cities. The so-called “hendek incidents” between 2015 and 2016, when members of the terrorist group and its supporters dug "hendeks" (ditches) and set up barricades in the southeastern cities, demonstrated that the PKK has been secretly regrouping and stockpiling more weapons during the process.
“It is an important parameter that the members of the group also ended their commitment to the PKK, in parallel with disarmament. The process has different dynamics and stages in Iran, Iraq and Syria,” Düz added.
The PKK, conceived in Türkiye in the 1970s, carried out its first attack there. Over time, it accumulated influence among communities in neighboring countries, exploiting Kurds disillusioned with deprivation of their rights. The group’s senior cadres are still in hiding in a mountainous region in northern Iraq. In Syria, the group maintains a wing called the YPG, which enjoyed a self-styled autonomy during the Syrian civil war and launched cross-border attacks targeting Türkiye. After the collapse of the Baathist regime in 2024, the YPG bowed to demands by the new administration to integrate itself with the security forces of post-revolution Syria.
Turkish security sources also said Monday that they were anticipating PKK members to return from abroad to benefit from a law passed by Parliament this summer for deferral of their sentencing, as part of the next phase of the initiative. Sources said several programs in education, economics and other topics would be rolled out for the reintegration of PKK members into society, though details are not clear yet about what they would be and how receptive the Turkish public would be toward members of a group that killed thousands of people across the country since the 1980s. Although the integration system and deferrals of sentencing and prosecution would cover those members not involved in acts of violence, it remains to be seen how PKK members would adapt to a new life after spending years in hiding in the mountains.
Integrated integration
Düz says the initiative has no room for uncertainty after full disarmament, citing examples of members of terrorist groups elsewhere in the world who succumbed to violence, formed criminal gangs or integrated with other armed actors after such counterterrorism processes.
“A return to civilian life and public acceptance is a process very difficult to be handled with separate policies. An integrated approach is essential here. State agencies (that would oversee integration) need a guide, a course and all should be included in the process,” she said.
She pointed out that the framework law passed by Parliament clarified the precondition for the return of PKK members to Türkiye, but it was not altogether clear about the integration model. “In my view, similar examples around the world should be examined, and there should be an individual-focused classification (of PKK members). Certain factors, like members’ role in the PKK organization, the time they spent with the group, their occupational skills, education level and even their gender can be important determining factors in this classification to create the integration model,” Düz said.
She noted that a myriad of steps were required to be considered, from vocational training to employment support and adaptation to social life. “Yet, while implementing this, Türkiye should not turn a blind eye to how sensitive this is for those directly affected by (PKK terrorism). Victims’ expectations should be heeded, and there shouldn’t be a perception of injustice, impunity,” she warned.
Nigar Göksel, the International Crisis Group’s Türkiye/Cyprus director, says the Metina evacuation was “certainly a constructive step that could help build momentum.”
“Taking an irreversible step like this reflects a significant level of confidence in the process. But at least two important questions remain. One is PJAK, which is not taking part in the disarmament process and sees no prospect of integration in Iran under present conditions. Given its links to the wider KCK network, this can cause issues,” she told Daily Sabah, referring to the Iran wing of the terrorist group, which, itself, is part of KCK.
“Another issue is the well-known sequencing question regarding the political track inside (Türkiye): integration parameters, and at what stage Öcalan's role and broader political matters will be addressed,” Göksel added, in reference to the PKK’s jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan, who currently serves a life sentence in an island prison near Istanbul.
Devlet Bahçeli, chair of government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) who first proposed the terror-free Türkiye initiative, has recently suggested Öcalan be “a coordinator” in the process and for Türkiye to establish an office for coordination on the Imrali island where Öcalan is held. Authorities have not openly responded to Bahçeli’s call, but media reports suggest that Öcalan would be given more access to the outside world, though still within the confines of the prison, to relay his messages to the terrorist group and the wider public in a much easier way. A political party close to the PKK has recently claimed that Öcalan may hold meetings with journalists and nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives in Imralı soon.